Everything But The Gym: Motivation: Part 2

Get Motivated, Stay Motivated

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Talk about a fire under your ass!

Hi again everyone, I decided there are a few more areas to cover in this topic before I move on. Last time I talked about how to stay motivated by exploring your options, finding something you enjoy, and allowing your interests to adjust over time. I want to expand on the first point: find something you enjoy (or dislike less).

For some of us, it may not be a given activity that motivates us, but a certain result we are looking for. A target bodyweight, losing fat, building muscle, etc. This is something we should not overlook, it's fine to focus on one of these objectives as your motivation. This applies more to goal setting which I will talk about in another post, but for some people, wanting to change their body may be all the motivation they need.

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Maybe you could to be the next Arnold.

If you feel sufficiently motivated to start an exercise program for one of these reasons, (weight loss, muscle building, etc.) I would say that is great. However, in my personal experience and what I’ve seen and heard from others, this sort of motivation does not last. How many people do you know of, maybe even yourself, who has failed to follow through with a new year’s resolution to lose weight? People get excited to lose weight and get onboard with a diet, exercise program, the whole nine yards because they are excited to finally lose that weight. But within a very short time; a week, a month, they have lost that excitement and usually quit.

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So how do we correct this? Well we don’t need to correct it, so much as reinforce it, reinforce our desire to improve. Zig Ziglar said something to the effect of, motivation doesn’t last but neither does bathing, that’s why we recommend it daily. I think this is a great way to look at it, we should be getting motivated every day! I have struggled with this in the past, and I still do, I am only human. But I have improved by reminding myself at the beginning of my workouts, what I want to accomplish and why I am doing it. I keep motivational posters around my room, (hey, they motivate me anyway) I listen to music during my work out that inspires me, these are all tricks you can use to stay motivated but you have to find what works for you.

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What we need to do to keep going is stay motivated, whatever motivates you keep doing it! We can't rely on one dose of motivation to carry us through our endeavor. Think about it, anything else in our life that runs out, we refill. Our gas tank, our refrigerator, even our stomachs, but when we run out of motivation we just say "oh well, I guess this isn't for me." Why? Why don't we refill our motivation? Whatever got you motivated in the first place to start making your life better, go find more! Read motivational stories, listen to music that moves you, look at your favorite celebrity poster, whatever it is! Throughout this post I have given examples of what you could do to motivate yourself, but these are only examples. The truth is I don't know what will motivate you, only you can discover that. But once you do, don't forget it, keep doing it, and never stop being motivated.

Check out this article on bodybuilding.com for some nice tips on staying motivated in the new year.
-Free motivational tips