Happy Monday!
I hope you all had a good weekend and are ready for the week! I was inspired to write today’s post after doing a podcast with Lifestyle Accountability a couple months ago. Good thing I finally got around to it now…
Whether you’re going after a fitness goal, working your way towards a degree, starting a business, or simply changing small habits in your life, these Three Steps to Finding Your Motivation can easily apply.
1. Find Your “Why?”
It’s hard to work for a goal unless you have a good reason behind it. WHY do you want to cut dairy out of your diet? WHY do you want to finish graduate school? WHY do you want to run a half marathon?
Imagine yourself completing your goal. How do you feel? What about your life has changed? When you find that feeling that you’re striving for, you’ll find your “Why?”
For example: Whenever I have a race coming up and I’m in training. It’s not always rainbows and kittens. When I’m slugging my way through a tough long run I try to imagine that I’m in that race. How does it feel to be running the last mile? How does it feel to cross that finish line? Accomplished, proud of myself, confident and (usually…) having fun. That’s my why.
2. Start Small
A lot of people start really strong and dive in head first, only to feel overwhelmed and quit soon after. We’ve all heard the saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” You may feel frustrated and want to change something RIGHT NOW rather than having it take 3 months, 6 months or a year. But what’s worse? Achieving your goal in a year or quitting a month in and not achieving it at all?
By using small steps to slowly make your way to where you want to be, you’re engraining good habits and not overloading yourself with new responsibilities or changes.
For example: you want to start a blog! Awesome. But don’t expect to have tons of followers and comments right away, or even within a couple months. First, get a free account and start writing. See if you like writing just for you. Then get a twitter, start interacting on social media. If you still like it, try to join some blogging groups. By taking it step by step you won’t feel like your new goal has taken over your life.
3. Find Support
We are social creatures – even those of us who call ourselves introverts need support from the people around us. Trying to get into shape? Find a buddy to workout with a couple times a week, or join a group fitness class and get to know the instructor or someone else in the class.
Trying to start a blog or a new business? Seek out a mentor, someone you respect who is already doing what you want to be doing. Making a dietary change? Discuss it with the people you live with, ask for their support and maybe organize a “gluten free” or “dairy free” meal together once or twice a week.
For example: when I was training for the Chicago Marathon, I certainly didn’t do it alone. I joined a running group here in Chicago, I had friends who I talked to about running all the time, I basically turned my cousin into my personal running coach (thanks Allie!), and even my family who didn’t quite “get” the whole running thing came out to support me during the race, which meant the world to me. Yes, I ran the race by myself, but I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s support.
Do you have a goal that you are or want to work towards?
What are you tips to finding motivation and achieving goals?
I needed this today! I have been having a hard time finding my motivation and this was a great reminder.
I’m glad it helped, Madeline!
for me it is also DOING LESS THAN I AM CAPABLE OF EVERY DAY—SO I WAKE THE NEXT DAY **WANTING* TO DO MORE.
Interesting thought!
start small – YES!! and stay consistent – every workout or run won’t be amazing, but don’t give up!
consistency is a good one!
I am always working creating the live I want. I keep moving forward to stay healthy, stay happy and take care of those I love.
Good plan!
I’m focusing on triathlons this year (i haven’t done one yet) I’m also signed up for 2 half marathons but for the April one I’m not pushing my training. I’ve been doing 2ish miles a couple times a week, and now that its starting to melt I’ll start doing more. Last year I did too much too soon, was injured and suffered for a long time. I’m hoping to avoid that mistake this time around!
Very smart to take it slow, I hope you have a good year of racing!
Awesome stuff here!
And thanks again for taking the time to share your story and chat with us for the podcast!
Thanks, Adam!
I don’t think we can ever be reminded enough about motivation. Always timely, always appropriate. These points are so consistently valid and appreciated. im working on growing my business as a wellness and health professional to eventually open a resort (luxury bootcamp). And my motivation shifts constantly, that’s why in trying out the social accountability phone call as a check in with like minded, goal oriented people. I find that once you find and remind your powerful reason why, you can do anything. That is so so true. It has to light a fire in your heart. That fire pushes you to excel and accomplish. Love this post and discussion!
Thanks, Lia!
This was perfect for me today! With so much going on in my personal life, my half marathon has been more of a nuisance than something that I’m looking forward to. This makes me sad because it’s been something I’ve been wanting to do FOREVER. Time to shift my mindset and find my motivation! Thanks for this!
Definitely enjoy the last bit of your training! It can get tiring after a while and you just want to be done, but soak up that race and enjoy it!
This is great advice Katie! I love the first one – I think that’s something we need to ask ourselves every time we set a goal or want to make a major change!
Definitely! Thanks, Sam.
Great advice! So important to keep sight of your why, especially on the days things are going so well.
Thanks, Michelle!
great tips! finding the why can be the hardest, but probably the most important step 🙂
Definitely an important one!
Great steps, and very, very easily applied to each person’s life! I think everyone’s downfall is the “start small” step. We want a huge, lofty, non-specific thing to happen overnight (i.e. “eat healthy”), when we really need to break it in to steps (i.e. eat 1 more serving of veggies a day) before moving on to another one.
Yes, it’s hard to start small when you have big ambitions, but it’s really important!
[…] recommends: 3 Steps to Finding Your Motivation from Peace, Love & […]