Motivation is Not The Answer

Motivation is not the answer.

You don’t need motivation you just need to plan.

Motivation is finite and the reliance on external motivation is always flawed.

Because what happened if your motivation is gone? How do you get things done?

It's draining and stressful.

I know how you feel. Stressed, tired, guilty, failure.

Training:

“I go to get dressed. I imagine the session I have to go do. I think about doing different exercises. They seem so strenuous, do I really have the energy to do this?

Ohhh look, cat video on Facebook!”


Diet:

“I think about eating broccoli, as I know I should be eating broccoli.

In fact that I am not eating broccoli as I eat a... insert guilt ridden food purchased on a whim... makes me realise I really should be eating broccoli.

Ohhh I am a failure!”


But what if?

“What should I do today?

Oh look the plan is telling me I have gym at 6am, shower at 7am...

Breakfast of eggs and avocado, and I am meeting my sister for coffee at 8:30am and its treat day as I just trained and plan to do the shopping after.”


Use external sources of motivation to spur you on to plan your journey, rather than as the impetus to get things done.

Plan your time and eliminate as many decisions as possible.

Decision making fatigue is the silent killer of hopes, dreams and aspirations, and in particular fitness goals!

Spend an hour every Sunday or once a month and detail your week.

Delineate training times, times for coffee with friends, what you will eat at meals, and your training sessions.

Go into as much detail as possible.

Build habits.

They eliminate stress, remove decision fatigue, and give you so much FREEDOM!

Look at it this way, are you motivated to brush your teeth?

Ohhh my God, I want white teeth so bad, I better hire a tooth brushing motivation expert... brush, brush brush!

No, I don’t think so.

It’s a habit. Clean healthy teeth are a result of the habit.

Please tell me you brush your teeth?

Take a moment to reflect on your current health journey. What inspires and motivates you?

More importantly, why does that motivate you so much?

Once you have that identified, note down the steps you can take in your life help you get there. That is now your action plan.

That action plan is your source of direction and motivation.

When your motivation is low, you just look at your plan, remember the frame of mind you were in when you wrote it, and WHY you wrote it and then you stick to the plan.