How To Get Motivated.

How to get motivated? It is a very common question, to answer it you need to have clear that motivation is the process that:

initiates
guides
maintains

goal-oriented behaviors.

It is what causes you to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to satisfy your thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge.

There are two main types of motivation: internal and external motivation. They both contribute to keep us moving forward towards our goals, whatever they are. Let’s have a look at them a bit more in detail.

Internal Motivation

This is the type of motivation that comes from within you.
You choose do to something because you enjoy doing it or the process, for example, you work-out because you like the feeling of being active, your heart rate becoming faster, you like the idea of lifting weights or running xyz kms or hours because it makes you feel good, it’s your personal gratification.

External motivation

This is the type of motivation that comes from the outside.
You have a competition, a deadline, something on the plate that requires you to do something else to achieve it and there will be a reward if you do so (could be any type or reward, money or gratification for example).

Needless to say, the internal motivation is much stronger as it involves something that you actually enjoy and want to do but surely the external motivation can be a very good push to start things and get going.

When these two types work in synergy, great results can be achieved.

How to get motivated? Where to start.

There is no special magic recipe to get motivated but there are tips and hints that can help you realizing the pieces of the puzzle that can have you start moving forward, let me share them with you:

You need a goal as in something to achieve in order to realize that to reach it, you need to do something about it.
This, of course, is definitely not enough but just realizing that to reach your goal some action steps are required, it’s the first thing to start with.
Understand that motivation doesn’t fall from the sky though, if you are sitting down waiting for a ray of light to shine upon you…well, good luck with that as motivation does require you to take an action.

How to get motivated? From the sky? — This is not motivation, just a very good timed picture

Let’s set an example:

You want to lose 10 kg of fat have never done anything related to your health, both when it comes to nutrition and when it comes to sports: if you stare at the window in a dreamy state of being 10 kg leaner, in a better shape, feeling stronger and healthier, nothing will happen.

Do something, seriously, do something.

Take an action towards your goal, seriously, do it now.
Getting back to the previous example, how to get motivated? Where to start if you want to lose 10kg of fat over time?

1. Walk. I’m not joking, walk around. If you can and it’s safe to do, walk around your neighborhood 10 minutes a day to start from. Get your favorite playlist in, the podcast you’re enjoying so much, an audio book or even just the sound of nature and go out and walk. Can’t go far? Walk around your building a few times, can’t go out due to restrictions?
2. Climb the stairs up and down in your building or your apartment. Can’t do that either?
3. Take a chair and practice chair squats a few times a day, set a number you want to achieve and get it done.

These brings us to the fundamental aspects of how to get motivated: consistency and results/improvements.

Consistency (and honesty with yourself)

This is the key for your success but also a tricky one. Without being consistent, it is difficult to reach the results that you need to feel that your efforts are paying off.
If you start with the right foot, but stop after 2 or 3 times to resume one month later and be upset because you don’t feel any difference, before you jump into an uproar of “THIS ISN’T WORKING” and go right back to your previous unhealthy behavior

take a deep breath and be honest with yourself: were you really consistent with your actions towards your goal?

No one is here to judge you, be realistic and honest with yourself, if you were more than 70-80% consistent with your actions over the course of, at the very least 30 days, you should start to see some results, if you were less than that, well, here you have something to work on to improve it and get back on track.

Results and improvements

By taking an action you will have already achieved something.
Decided to walk 10 minutes a day and have been doing it for a week? That is a great result! You have been fighting the laziness one step at the time and look at what you have done already.

How does it feel? Do you feel that fire of empowerment warming you up? Remind this sensation as this will be the key to ignite you any other time you feel like you don’t want to do anything.

Consistency bring results and these will call motivation in, don’t forget.
Whether you’re on a fat loss journey, for example, feeling that your jeans are loosening up around your waist is a HUGE boost in motivation.
If you’re aiming at running a marathon and your time per km or mile improves, there you go, here is the new motivation, when your compound lifts weight is higher….well you get it right?

Is there a magic formula?

If I wanted to turn “How to get motivated” into a magic formula, I’d definitely say that motivation is the outcome of “(Action + results + consistency) x time” but I don’t believe in formulas as life works in much more complex ways.

How do I keep my workout motivation throughout the year?

I’ve been often asked this so let me share my secret with you.

Nobody believes me but hey, I am lazy, I really am.

How do I fight this back? I use a few tricks on myself:

When I go to work in my backpack I already have my workout clothes ready.
The gym I go to (or used to go to before corona was raging) is right next to the train station of my workplace
When I work-out outdoor I have a small playground with some pull up bars at 3 minutes from home and my training gear is right next to the door so anytime I walk in front of it (my apartment is tiny) I am constantly reminded that it’s training day.

There are days when I really am not feeling it and I’d rather stay home and binge on Netflix but when this happens I tell myself that I can just get to the park/the gym and do my warm up and a bit of stretching (working from home makes my body super stiff) and then come back and pick up the last episode of the show of the moment.
Guess what? After my warm-up I end up doing some training too and I feel good, warm and no longer stiff as a concrete pillar.

That’s all about my secrets on how to get motivated.

There you go: action brings results that bring motivation that brings action…

….and the loop goes on!