When was the last time you wrote out goals for yourself? What were you looking to accomplish? When was the last time you felt motivated? Many people lose motivation for many reasons, but keeping your goals in the forefront of your mind and your daily behavior will help you stick to your routine and overcome the barriers to achieving results. Learn how you can get motivated as a result of action.
How to Get Motivated
This isn’t going to be some rah-rah, pumped-up motivational speech. (That’s not my style.) Instead, we’re going to break down the science behind how to get motivated in the first place and how to stay motivated for the long-run. These concepts aren’t just only for fitness, although there are specific steps you can take, but can be applied in all aspects of life.
Sometimes you may feel that it’s really easy to get motivated, and you find yourself wrapped up in a whirlwind of excitement over a new idea or information you learned. Other times, it is nearly impossible to figure out how to motivate yourself and you’re trapped in a death spiral of procrastination and a Netflix binge cycle.
What is Motivation?
The author, Steven Pressfield, has a great line in his book, “The War of Art.” To paraphrase Pressfield, “At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.”
In other words, at some point, it is easier to change than to stay the same. It is easier to take action and make the choice of feeling insecure at the gym than to sit still and experience self-loathing on the couch. It is easier to feel awkward while making the sales call than to feel disappointed about your dwindling bank account.
Action Creates Motivation
Motivation is often the result of action, not the cause of it. Getting started, even in very small ways, is a form of active inspiration that naturally produces momentum.
via JamesClear.com
One of the most surprising things about motivation is that it often comes after starting a new behavior, not before. We have this common misconception that motivation arrives as a result of passively consuming a motivational video or reading an inspirational book.
Newton’s First Law applied to habit formation: Objects in motion tend to stay in motion. Once a task has begun, it is easier to continue moving it forward.
If you’re feeling like you need to revisit your goals and motivation strategies or want an updated fitness assessment, send me a message at [email protected] to set up a free goal-setting session!
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Written by Kailyn Danhouser, EP-C; Personal Trainer at Elite Sports Club – River Glen & North Shore
Kailyn graduated from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse with a B.S. in Exercise and Sports Science. She is an American College of Sports Medicine: Certified Exercise Physiologist (EP-C), AAAI/ISMA: Certified Pilates Instructor, and Certified Diabetes Prevention Lifestyle Coach. Kailyn specializes in Functional Training, Group training, Special Populations, Weight Management, and HIIT. “I want to inspire people to find exercises that they enjoy doing every day. There are many opportunities all around us to move our bodies, we have to look for them. The exercises you do are better than the ones you don’t do.”