Simple strategies to get motivated
Recently, while reading an article on Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s FitNation (CNN) website, I discovered a little viewer poll that asked What is your biggest obstacle to losing weight or getting fit?. Here are the results (at time of viewing)
Motivation or lack of willpower 74% (11929 votes)
Access to healthy foods 5% (750 votes)
Access to exercise facilities 3% (465 votes)
Financial resources 5% (875 votes)
Support from partner/family/friends 5% (748 votes)
Finding diet/fitness plan 8% (1337 votes)
Total Votes: 16104
This is not a scientific poll. source cnn.com
Fitness Psychology
The psychological and sociological factors that influence behaviors related to living a healthy lifestyle appear to be far more powerful obstacles than tangible ones such as access to healthy food, exercise facilities, and finances. Almost three quarters of respondents report motivation or lack of willpower as their biggest obstacle.
A kick in the butt perhaps?
These results do not surprise me, in fact they reinforce the message that is the heart of Radiance Wellness, that teaching people to move their bodies is not such an incredible skill, but motivating them to move is a feat. I think it is safe to say that even if I was giving away free copies of the sacred book of exercise secrets and the perfect nutrition plan for weightloss, few people would be motivated enough to do the exercises or follow the diet.
Motivate me
If you voted ‘lack of willpower ‘ as your biggest obstacle then your exploration must begin within yourself and not from a diet book or workout program. Here are three simple first steps to get the momentum rolling.
- Change your terminology. Remove ‘should’, ‘need’ and ‘will’ from your vocabularly and replace it with ‘must’. “Must’ is a far more powerful word and it has a sense of urgency. Instead of “I need to get fit”, say “ I must get fit”, “ I must lose weight” “ I must start today”
- Start seeking out your model of success. It may be a friend, colleague, or celebrity who has already accomplished what you are trying to achieve. Find out what they did and model their behaviour. Everyone needs a plan and this is the start of yours.
- Get excited. Momentum comes from excitement. See your end result, visualize how great you will look, feel and perform when you reach your goal and allow yourself to be enthusiastic about it.
Shari Feuz is a Vancouver Canada based fitness professional with a passion for guiding people to achieve mastery over how their body looks, feels and performs.
Shari is a kinesiologist and certified personal trainer with over 12 years experience. She is a freelance health & fitness writer, a presenter and the founder of TrainerGirl, a volunteer organization that provides fitness mentorship to underprivileged young girls.
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