Motivational Support

  • After reading some recent threads I thought I'd post this. I've posted this several times elsewhere on 3FC and find it very helpful, as 'motivation' is a slippery little devil.

    "Motivation, as in being all rah-rah excited, doesn't happen to anybody, or if it does, it's fleeting. I'm not motivated to workout. I do it both because it needs to be done and because I'm emotionally invested in it. Very much like bathing and brushing my teeth. I may not always enjoy the process or the time it takes, but I do it at the start of every day because it makes me feel good about myself and gives me confidence. I don't want to be all scary and stinky and have people run from me. :-) However, at no point do I feel "motivated" to haul myself out of bed in the morning and get in the shower. I just do it and don't entertain the idea that I might not. I'm someone who bathes. You can be someone who exercises. It's just that matter-of-fact.

    In the beginning, until your cruise control kicks in, you can focus on the emotional investment part of it. Find a dream or aspiration that you want to make real and then spend as much time as possible visualizing your new life. How will it feel? What will you look like? What will you wear? What will people say? What will you do? What will you eat? What will your day be like? That's powerful stuff because it creates the mental shift necessary to pull off just about anything. Without the mental shift, you can make as many lame-*** attempts as you want, but nothing will ever stick. Your mind has to change before your body can. You have to know that this new reality is possible, and you'll know it's possible because you'll see it every day in your head."

    This is from skwigg's blog. Great stuff at her blog, check it out.http://skwigg.tripod.com
  • Ah I love it.

    I just replied similarly to one of the "motivation" threads. I don't excercise because I'm motivated. I excercise because I'm a grown up and that's one of my grown up responsibilities - to take care of myself.

    I likened it to going to work, but I'd almost liken it more to ... oh, going to the dentist or getting a mammogram or having a pap smear once a year. It's no fun, but you do it because it's part of being healthy.

    No rah-rah here. Just ... it is what it is.

    .
  • Quote: ...cut, snip... That's powerful stuff because it creates the mental shift necessary to pull off just about anything. Without the mental shift, you can make as many lame-*** attempts as you want, but nothing will ever stick. Your mind has to change before your body can. You have to know that this new reality is possible, and you'll know it's possible because you'll see it every day in your head."

    This is from skwigg's blog. Great stuff at her blog, check it out.http://skwigg.tripod.com
    One Intro psych class taught me how true this is: the grey matter in a child's brain literally grows because of what they see, experience and learn. Thoughts , ephemeral thought they may be, create new neural connections, actual physical changes in the body. When it comes to working at changing our lives, what we think is very powerful.
  • Loved it! I wholly agree that you have to change your mind/outlook, otherwise that "motivation" is fleeting. This will my my day's inspiration, thanks for the post!
  • Thank you for that!! That is awesome advice!!!! You really hit it home!