Motivation is a uniquely personal thing. What motivates one person may not be at all motivating for someone else.
I recently I asked the question, “what motivates you?” on several of my social media channels. Here are just a few of the answers I got:
“Feeling healthy and energized and spending time outdoors”
“My children”
“Having energy and fitting into smaller jeans”
“Wanting a future life & body that I can be proud of, to feel wonderful & beautiful in my own skin"
“To feel well mentally and physically”
“Feeling confident and capable!”
“To reach new goals!”
As you can see by the variety in these answers, there are many forms of motivation. From these answers you might also get a sense of what an important role motivation can play in your ability to achieve goals.
Without meaning behind your goals, you'll likely lose momentum, get distracted and become discouraged. All of which can cause you to steer off course and move further from your goals.
Motivation is a tool, much like a propeller on an airplane. It lifts you up and enables you to soar! Ever notice how packed the gyms are in January, and then how quiet they are by March? What happened to all those excited new gym goers? Where did their motivation go?
How can you find your motivation (and keep it) when working towards your healthy living goals?
A few things to keep in mind while working toward your goal:
Half of success is just showing up.
Let's face it, it's pretty hard to achieve your goals if you aren't putting in any effort. The good news? It only takes a few minutes a day to invest in yourself. Whether it's scheduling time to move your body or taking time to meal prep, you can make progress in your health and fitness simply by showing up. Time is going to pass anyway, so why not do something positive with it?
Recognize your resources.
There are all sorts of free and paid for healthy living resources out there. From health & fitness magazines, blog posts and podcasts to social media groups, mobile apps and online memberships. Set yourself up for healthy habit success by using some of the great resources available to you.
There will be peaks and valleys.
When you tackle something new you tend to start out strong. The excitement of a new goal can be incredibly energizing and exciting. You might even find others rally around you or even join in and the intrinsic reward of seeing some initial results from your efforts is inspiring. These are some of the peaks.
And just like a mountain range, where there are peaks there will also be valleys. Maybe your energy and excitement fades, your wellness routine starts to feel monotonous, and maybe you lose a few fans along the way. It's common to feel momentum shift and motivation to waiver. Especially if you feel like things aren't moving as quickly as you'd like. But remember rule number one: show up. Because when you show up, that's where the magic happens. You may not always see it, feel it or even recognize it but every time you show up you make a deposit in your healthy living bank.
Hone in on your strengths, refer to your supportive health and fitness tools and surround yourself with others on a similar healthy living journey and soon you'll be back on track, inspired and motivated to make your next milestone.
Ask for help.
Feeling stuck? Ask for help. Join an online support group, hire a personal trainer or health coach to give you strategies, tips and tools, sign up for a group fitness class and surround yourself with like minded folks to support you. A healthy living journey can feel lonely. When you surround yourself with a team invested in your success, you give yourself a leg up by enlisting support right out of the gate.
Pause to see all the resources around you. You may be pleasantly surprised by how much help is out there to motivate, inspire and keep you moving forward. Something I love about healthy living communities is how genuinely compassionate and supportive people are about helping one another. Give yourself the power of TRIBE. Studies show it makes you not only more likely to successfully accomplish your goals, but to maintain them for life.
Are you tired of starting over every Monday, hopping from diet to diet, wondering if you'll ever get it "right" so that you can lose the weight and become the best version of you? I’ve got you friend! Come join me inside my FREE women’s-only Facebook community: Eat Better with Coach Mindy. It's for busy women like you who are ready to lose weight, gain energy, get healthy and fit -- without restrictive diets or punishing food rules.
