What Kind of Motivation Will Work for You?
Let’s talk about what can get you out of the rut that you’re in, or might be in one day, with your fitness journey.
Disclaimer: If you fully understand the title of this post and you’re looking for the answer, less the description and further understanding of the topic, skip down to the paragraph that starts with “Each of us is a little different…”
Disclaimer 2: Before the internet trolls and google experts come for me, let me be clear, I am not in any way qualified to talk about psychology on the level of an educated/board-certified professional.
Glad we got that out of the way.
What I am certainly qualified to talk about is the way that I’ve seen different motivating factors impact myself and the people I work with. In other words, I’ve found themes that might help you get off your ass and change your life for the better because I’ve watched it happen over and over again.
I want to first point out that “motivation” being the hot, catchy word that it’s become in the last decade isn’t worth all that much in the long run. My goal for every person reading this is for “motivation” to be a kickstarter but to one day no longer be needed and for a healthy, sustainable routine to come naturally through early effort and habit-building.
That said, I see the importance of having something, whether intrinsically or extrinsically, that can figuratively and literally get you off your ass.
Here’s a couple definitions to help us understand what “intrinsic” or “extrinsic” means. There are some big differences.
Intrinsic; (adjective) belonging naturally; essential.
Extrinsic; (adjective) not part of the essential nature of someone or something; coming or operating from outside.
This is how this relates to our topic; there are things that motivate us on an internal, personal level (intrinsic) and there are things that motivate us from outside of our own being, mind or environment (extrinsic).
While it’s great to know what KIND of motivation drives you is far less important than identifying how to put that knowledge into action.
Each of us is a little different. For example I find that when I post something on Instagram about what I plan on doing, I’ll perceive social pressure to accomplish whatever I let the “world” know about. That motivates me to work towards my goal(s) essentially out of fear of public failure.
This is a weird blend of intrinsic and extrinsic, right? I’m using an outside action to trick myself into thinking that I have to accomplish my goals.
What I think helps most is seeing what goals you’ve accomplished in the past and reverse-engineering what got you there in the first place. I came to my answer of perceived social pressure by remembering what got me to mine.
I announced on Instagram in 2018 that in 2019, I’d be traveling across the country to run a race far more difficult than I’d ever done before (and I did it). Later on, when I wanted to make sure I was taking care of myself aesthetically, I posted a progress picture to keep myself accountable (and it worked).
Please do NOT take this as a recommendation. Honestly, mentally, it wasn’t the healthiest option for me and even now this perceived pressure is not an ideal way of going about my goal-getting.
But, it gets the damn job done. So, when I’m in a rut, this is absolutely an option.
This is part of the reason people hire coaches - because it’s much less stressful and far more supportive to have one person looking out for you and keeping you accountable than putting that pressure on yourself and imagining hundreds of people are waiting to see if you succeed.
Maybe this isn’t even CLOSE to something that has helped you in the past - cool! Think about what has done it for you:
Did you spend more time looking for a new job when you hired a recruiter?
Did you workout more when someone went to the gym with you?
Did you make it to all your meetings on time when you wrote them down in a planner?
Have you loved yourself more because you repeated affirmations in front of your mirror?
You’ve accomplished things in your life - likely that you haven’t even reflected on! You’ve overcome trouble and turmoil and you’ve made it to right now. Think on hard times in the past where you felt like you were in a rut.
How’d you get rolling again? How can you make that actionable today?
That’s the sauce - in finding what’s worked before, even in completely unrelated situations, and engineering it for THIS moment. Find out what kind of motivation has worked before and use that to your advantage!
You’re one actionable step away from being a little better than yesterday. And today, that’s all we need to accomplish.