If you are looking for health and fitness motivation, the first thing you need to do is to ask yourself “why.”
This “why” becomes your primary motivating force.
Without motivation, there is no drive and without drive there is no real reason to push on and succeed. This is the primary reason many people who embark on a fitness or nutrition program end up abandoning it long before they get to see and experience the results.
They start down the path to improving their health only to find that suddenly they have too much to do to go to the gym. They are just too tired or busy or whatever!
If this sounds familiar, then it is time to dig down and find your “why.”
Finding Your Why
This “why” bit is the single most important aspect of any fitness or nutrition program yet is it seldom considered and the most neglected of all aspects.
Truth is, motivation is the driving force that will get you out of bed an hour earlier to get to the gym or plan ahead with meal preparation. Its the most powerful way to to avoid devouring that packet of chocolate biscuits.
It is the single crucial element in your approach that will push you past where you have been before or even beyond what you ever thought was possible or that you were capable of.
To find your “why”, you must first ask yourself this question, “WHY am I starting this fitness or nutrition program?”
What is the reasoning that will help to make it a consistent priority in your life? Is it to lose weight, improve health, sleep better, reduce stress, or set an example for your children?
If your goal was to lose weight, the typical answer will be something like this:
I want to lose weight
I want to be healthier
I want to fit into my old skinny jeans
Now these are all good reasons but they are not yet your “why.”
At this point, and based on the answers above, ask yourself these questions:
“WHY do I want to lose weight?”
“WHY do I want to be healthier?”
“WHY do I want to fit back into my skinny jeans?”
Digging Deep
When you add “why” in front of the above questions, it forces you to dig deep inside for your true health motivation.
For example, when you ask yourself why you want to lose weight you might get answers like:
“I’m sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I want to look better for my husband and be the only one that he is interested in. Or I’m back on the dating scene. I need to look my best.”
Other examples that examine why you might want to get healthier could be: “To reduce the likelihood of your life being cut short by some awful disease. Or because you want to be around to enjoy your grandchildren. You might be trying t eliminate medications and stop worrying about your health. Or, possibly you’re worried about having a heart attack because your blood pressure and cholesterol are high. Or how about, you have a young family and cannot imagine leaving them on their own.”
These are the true “whys.” They are powerful and emotional reasons for following through with your fitness program or nutrition plan.
Remembering that you are sick and tired of being overweight or that your health is at risk as your doctor has warned, or that you are in danger of a heart attack is how you create the unstoppable drive to stick to your fitness program and get your butt to the gym.
So if you are trying to decide if it’s time to improve your health – if you have already started a fitness program but you’ve lost your motivation, then it’s time to revisit your “why.”
Doing Your homework:
- Ask yourself “why you are doing this”.
- Then ask yourself “But WHY am I [insert answer to above question]”.
- Repeat as often as needed (even several times a day) until you have found your true drive and motivation.
Create yourself a goal so significant that no amount of effort or challenge will keep you from reaching it. If your WHY is strong enough, you can tolerate any HOW.
You need to make yourself a force to be reckoned with. In order to do that, you first need to get very clear on what you want to make possible for yourself. Do not limit yourself – stretch and challenge yourself – then just do it.
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