People often tell me, “If only I had your motivation, Jane…” To such people, my response is that “It’s not easy…but I CHOOSE to make it a priority and DO it.”

What makes you wake up and go to work every morning even though you don’t like your job?

Definitely NOT motivation, but the fact that you need the paycheck to survive. You suck it up and drag yourself to work because you have NO CHOICE!

That’s the same attitude you need when it comes to fitness and really ANYTHING in life. You have to make it important enough to want to go all the way!

I believe that we choose when to be motivated and when to turn it off. For things that we like, we’re highly motivated. However, for things we don’t like, we can drag our feet for months or even years.

People complain all the time about how they need to lose weight and look fit. However, when provided instructions on how to get there, they have a whole bunch of excuses such as; “that is not my thing”, “It’s too hard”, “It’s too demanding”, “I have no time”, “only men lift weights” etc. They essentially create a mental block by not being open to trying new things and thus lose the battle even before they begin.

Unfortunately, fitness is one of those things where you have TO WORK HARD. You HAVE to put in the required effort to see results. To make matters even worse, it takes a very short time [for example 2 days] to gain 5 Ibs, but 2 to 3 weeks to lose the same amount of weight. Losing 10, 20, 30 or even 40 pounds is not impossible, but it cannot happen in 30 days if you are trying to do it the RIGHT WAY! Hence, you MUST be mentally prepared as the journey might not be enjoyable at first, but commitment and patience can take you a long way. You might even start enjoying yourself with time.

My motivation first comes from myself. I had wanted to be fit for so long and was willing to do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I needed to. I will not lie and say that leading a healthy lifestyle is easy. It can be hard work! When my alarm goes off at 5am, my first thought usually is “Do I really have to work out today? Maybe I deserve a rest.” Then I remember that how great I feel then I don’t have a choice but get up. When I crave sweet desserts and want to indulge in them all day, I have to soliloquize and bring my goal into focus – then there are days when soliloquizing only produces an echo.

Life has many ups and downs – there are days when I don’t need anyone to motivate me. I get up on time and exercise and stay nutrition compliant  without a problem! Then there are other days when I just want to crawl under a rock, check out of life momentarily and not be bothered about anything. This is when I need my motivators and accountability partners the most.

It’s important to have a support system that gives you the required push you when you slow down and reminds you why you MUST eat clean and not miss a workout session. Your support system is the wind beneath your wings and they remind you of your goal and hold you accountable to it.

Tips on Motivation:

– Why do you need to ditch the extra weight? What is your WHY? Take a moment to think about why it’s important for you to get the weight off, then use that as you go to reason, on those days you’re not motivated. This needs to be a VERY SOLID reason.

– Do it For YOU!! Not for your boyfriend, husband or family. Doing it for you will keep you motivated and grounded even when others criticize you.

– Establish a group of people who can keep tabs on you and be your Support.

– Be Committed and ready to work – you have no choice.

– Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help! If you realize you’re struggling and not making progress on your own, Hire a coach to push you towards your Goal. We all know what to do but execution can be a problem. Even I have coaches for different things in my life – business coach, fitness coach, financial coach – we can’t do it all on our own.

 

Working on your health and fitness goal and don’t know where to start? Contact me at jane@janemukami.com to schedule time to chat.

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