Find Your Motivation

          Welcome to afitnewyou!  This week I want to start by asking you a question.  What is it that is motivating you to reach a fitter new you?  You are reading this blog to get a little more inspiration perhaps, and I am always looking for new perspectives to help keep you motivated.  But I think that most of us already have something that can help motivate us to work a little harder each day.  We all can find something to focus on to help keep us pushing forward.  While it is certainly easier around particular times of the year, such as New Year's Eve and the start of the summer, to find something to focus on, what else will keep you motivated through the rest of the year?  I believe you already have something there, you just need to find the angle.  It could be an upcoming special event, such as a wedding or reunion, a change in your relationship status, such as getting yourself "back out there" while making your ex have regrets, or something else. such as preparing for another sports season.  Whatever it is, having an element that you can focus on to keep training hard and eating healthy, rather than just because its good for you, will most definitely keep you on track to reaching your goals.  So what is your motivation?

          Special events are always goods reasons to be motivated to work just a little harder to reach your fitness goals.  School reunions, weddings and milestone birthdays are perfect examples of events that we want to look as best as we can and will work harder to get there.  What is nice about using an upcoming event as a motivational focus is the timing component that the even can play into your planning.  For example, you usually have a good amount of notice for such events, heck some even come with a "save the date."  Having an awareness of when a future event will be gives you time to plan out how you are going to achieve your goals.  We all know that you aren't going to see a body change through one work out or "overnight."  But when you are aware that you have so many weeks and/or months to prepare for an event, you can make an effective plan to get there.  Another factor that the timing of the event plays is that as it draws closer, you will be even more compliant and motivated to increase the intensity.  Its sort of like that final sprint that a marathon runner puts forth once they know the finish line is near.  An example of an event that motivates me is an annual trip to a water park that I take with my daughter at the end of each summer.  On most days I am usually good about getting to the gym and making healthy food choices.  And at the beginning of the summer I have a little more motivation to look good in the warmer weather like most others.  but as the dog days of the summer drag on, I find extra motivation in this trip that I take with my daughter each year.  At this particular park, as they do at many time places, they take your picture as soon as you walk in the gate for you to purchase later in the day.  Because my daughter and I get it each year as a keepsake, I always want to look as good as possible because I know I will be able to look back on it all year every year.  My motivation is to look as good, or even better than the year before.  Therefore as the trip approaches I get motivated to hit it a little harder at the gym.

           As I mentioned earlier, there are plenty of reasons other than events to find motivation in as well.  Striving to beat a personal best on a lift at the gym, or a time on an event intrinsically have built in motivation.  Whether you are the type to record and post on social media all of your lifts, or are someone who just wants to beat what you achieved last time you were in the gym striving to beat a personal best is a great way to stay focused.  However, the same can be true for trying to get out of a rut.  For example, I think some of the most inspired people I ever see are athletes recovering from an injury.  Keeping an athlete off of the field is torturous on them.  But any rehabbing athlete knows that it is best to follow protocol to get them on the field and keep them on the field.  What is particularly good about using a set back, such as an injury, to keep you motivated is that the person usually is even more fired up to lift after the injury.  Having been "on the shelf" for so long, the person typically finds the drive to push harder and harder now that they "feel good."  There is not only additional motivation, but an increase in appreciation for staying healthy as well.  While I am not suggesting that you go out and purposely cause yourself an injury so that you can work back from it, what I am suggesting is that even having a set back can be encouraging rather than discouraging.

          I have been blessed over the years as a personal trainer to have such a diverse clientele.  The diversity in their unique goals has not only benefited me in that I have never felt that work had become a grind, but also because their individual goals goes with what I am saying here today.  Everyone can be motivated by something and some of the more non-traditional goals that my clients have had include things like "I want to get as strong as possible before I go in for a surgery on my hip," "I want to improve my balance to avoid falling on during icy conditions in the winter," and "I want to be able to walk and stand without falling over so that I can get out to field for my daughter's soccer games."  These goals just go to show that you can be motivated by something in your life, on an everyday basis, that doesn't have to end with you winning a contest and/or trophy.  Having something to focus on, more than just because its the healthy thing to do, will help keep you working your hardest towards achieving your fitness goals.  So what will motivate you?  Knowing the answer to that question is the inspiring way to reach a fit new you!