Struggling with motivation? Read on and learn how to keep yourself pumped up!
Being motivated all the time is difficult to do. It’s not only you who is losing motivation. There are times that everyone struggles with it, including me. But the good thing is, keeping yourself motivated is something you can master over time. Here are the steps on how to keep yourself pumped up at all times.
Have A Big “Why”
Training for three sports on top of your work and family isn’t a joke. It takes a lot of work. You’ve got to change your lifestyle and even more than that, you’ve got to change your belief system.
When you commit yourself to doing something, it takes up a lot of space in your head. You will not only be investing your time and effort, but more importantly, you will be investing your emotions. Are your reasons strong enough for you to keep going? How badly do you want to achieve your goal? You really need to make sure that when things get hard, you have a STRONG reason to keep going.
So, have a big “why”, a reason that really means a lot to you. That big “why” is essential in achieving your goal. No matter how pumped up you are in the beginning, without a big “why”, you have a big problem. Sooner or later, you’ll get burned out.
List As Many Big Why’s As You Can
When you don’t run out of reasons, then you don’t run out of motivation. If your only reason for going to the gym is to lose weight, and after several weeks of exercising, you haven’t seen any results, chances are, you’d lose your motivation. But if your reasons are to lose weight, increase your stamina, be fitter and stronger, or even meet new people, you will still be pumped up to exercise even when one of your reasons fails.
As an engineer by profession, I’m used to asking at least 5 “why’s” to come up with the root cause of a problem. This is true and applicable not only in engineering but also in sports and in life. You have to dig deeper within yourself.
Delve into your emotions and into your values. Ask yourself why you want to achieve your goals. How would you feel when you achieve them? If you don’t have a deep reason or several why you are doing a 70.3 triathlon, chances are, you will be dragging yourself to practice.
Visualize Your Goal
Imagine yourself being at the finish 5 seconds ahead than the other athletes. How do you like the sound of the roaring audience as you come past the finish line to receive your medal? How do you feel seeing your toned muscles in the mirror?
During my Ultraman race, I got lost and that made me bike for 10 more miles than the designated course. I didn’t give up even though the cut off time was just right there. I kept myself moving because what I was thinking was that I’m raising funds for abused children.
Start paying more attention to what you like about what you are doing. More importantly, write your goals down and use those notes to help you get motivated. If you visualize your goals and focus on them, there will be no mountains too high for biking. And every muscle pain, every drop of sweat will be all worth it.
Take Your Goal One Step At A Time
Having a big “why” can be overwhelming. The bigger your “why” and the more unattainable your goal is, the more you’d get demotivated when you still can’t see results after working on it for some time.
Breaking your big and seemingly unrealistic goal into smaller, doable steps can help you accomplish one goal at a time. And the more you accomplish something, the more motivated you’d become to do greater things.
Keep Track of Your Results
Every one of us wants to see the results. Do a tracking game and see how your body develops. Take pictures every now and then to see how your body transforms. Track your weight, too. If you aim for a faster run, then track your time.
Celebrate Your Success
By success, I mean the progress you've made. And by celebration, I don't mean inviting your friends over for a cocktail party or a lavish dinner. Lost a pound off your weight? Go get yourself that small-sized jersey sweater that you've been wanting for years. If you work hard, give yourself rewards. You deserve them. Have those rewards tangible and realistic. For example, you can put $20 in a money jar whenever you complete a strength training workout. Then, use what you have saved up for a dream vacation, or a dream bike. With this reward system in place, your brain will crave more and more productive results. And the more you see results, the more motivated you'll become.
So, whenever you start losing that enthusiasm or when you feel you want to give up, always go back to your why. Remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing. We all have those “quitting moments” but what separates a winner from a quitter is your reason and how badly you want to accomplish it.
Tell me about the last time you were able to overcome your "quitting moment" and what you did to tap into your motivation. We all have times when our will is strong and nothing will ever push us off course. Leave a comment below about your experience with that.
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