First off, we are all motivated in a different way. Some are motivated by money, some by love, and others are motivated by the need to be better. A question you need to ask yourself is why am I doing this? Is it for me? Is it for my family? is it for friends or is it something you can’t put your finger on? The Oxford Dictionary defines Motivation as “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way” so if you look at your behavior why are you acting that way? Why are you not giving everything to every exercise? Why are you late for things? Why are you eating extra dessert? Whether you like it or not, you are motivated to do what you are doing but it’s not until you ask yourself these questions that you begin to understand why. 

Motivation is a fluid, ever changing notion; similar to the stock market. Some days it is high and some days it is low. Some of the answers you may get from answering the above questions may be intrinsic or extrinsic motivations. Intrinsic motivations are things like a sense of achievement, pride, interest, or curiosity. Extrinsic motivation: maybe things like money, praise, or winning. 

Once you have the answers you are looking for, I would invite you to set some goals. When it comes to goal setting always use SMART(Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) goals to help you best achieve your goals. 

Here’s how we break down SMART Goals.

Specific: State what exactly you want to do with a date for when you want to do it. 

Measurable: How will you measure your goal? Measuring will hold you accountable as your progress to your final goal. 

Attainable: Your goal should push you but needs to be achievable. 

Relevant: Is your goal and timeframe for the goal realistic? Set a goal that is relevant to your life. 

Timely: Give yourself a reasonable amount of time to achieve the set goal, but set a deadline.

Along with finding what motivates you and setting goals, you must get your routine on point. If at first, you need to tinker with your daily activities, try out different ways of doing things on different days. For example, try working out at 5 am and see how your body feels later that day. If that doesn’t work try a noon class or an evening class. Find what works for you and stick to it. Sticking to the routine, even when it is hard, will help you achieve that SMART goal you have set. 

As the week’s progress and you have found what motivates you, set a SMART goal, and found the routine that works best for you, you will begin to see some change. The first change you will see is the ease of your new routine. Sometimes starting out a new routine can have some growing pains, but once you get settled in and know what the next day looks like, you will begin to feel some relief and get into a groove on your way to achieving that SMART goal. Shortly after that, you will begin to feel some changes within your body, more energy throughout the day, feeling better and more confident within yourself, and slowly you will start to see your path toward your goal look much easier and begin to gain more and more momentum. 

If you need help setting smart goals or need accountability in your health and fitness journey, please reach out to me stephen@phoenixacoaching.com.
 

Stephen Duff