Just Start...[It's that simple]

What do you do when you've lost your motivation? Maybe you went on vacation for a week or two, and came back feeling tired. Perhaps just down (post-vacation blues are a thing!). Or maybe you are injured, and all of a sudden it’s been a few weeks (or months), and you’re just totally unmotivated again. Ugh - it’s the worst. I know what it’s like to struggle to get a routine again. Or maybe your schedule is erratic - you have way too much going on and you don’t have a set schedule, or you’ve been working too much (ahem this is my issue).

It’s so frustrating. I am supposed to be this organized, type-A engineer, and I struggle every day with routine. I had a back injury that sidelined me from all the exercise I loved for over two year, so I know what it’s like to lose inspiration. Have you noticed as well that inspiration or motivation comes and goes in waves?! One day - I’ll be SUPER dead set on eating no sugar, drinking lots of water, and staying away from eating too much. I’ll be golden for a whole day or two, and then the third day comes around and I start telling myself “it’s fine to have a glass of wine or two”, or “what’s a bit of ice cream going to do in the long run?”, or “I deserve a break, and balance is important”. I’m not saying these aren’t true statements, but the next thing I know I’m pounding back a pint of Village Ice Cream (our local obsession), and then I’m in a deep SHAME-HOLE for the next few days and criticizing every fold of skin, and blaming myself for not having the willpower.

motivation is fleeting and willpower doesn’t work

It’s often hard to get back up. Cut out the negative thoughts, and take another step.

Does this sound familiar? Why do we lose willpower, and why can’t we keep our moments of inspiration long enough to get traction on the things we want to achieve? This is probably because willpower is a horrible motivator. According to Benjamin Hardy, author of the powerful book Willpower Doesn’t Work, it’s fleeting, and research has shown that we only have a finite amount of it. It depletes with stress, and if we’ve used it earlier in the day, then we only have so much left. If you’ve already had to hold your tongue in a conversation, or avoided eating candies from that nice lady’s desk when you walk by, or you worked late and you’re tired, then you don’t have the willpower to drag yourself to the gym, or to avoid that sugary treat looking at you in the aisle at the grocery store. The only way to reach those goals is getting into a HABIT of doing the things you need to do, not the things we want to do (ugh).

time goes by whether we do something about it or not

Okay, but how do we build habits? It’s about getting over our initial resistance. And then doing it day in, and day out, long enough to see results so we WANT to keep doing it. And trust me, the WANT takes a long time to build, so don’t rely on feeling it. Resistance’s only worthy adversary is ACTION. It doesn’t need to be big action, but it needs to be consistent action. Day in, day out - a little action is the only way to get traction. Is it easy? Hell no! But it’s simple. Take little, manageable steps every day to build the habit. Once you have consistently done it for a few months, you will feel like it’s a habit. And habits are everything. They allow us to do things out of routine (almost subconsciously) rather than needing to use energy to make it happen (by conscious thought, internal convincing, etc).

When you hear the voice inside you start to resist you, immediately ask yourself:

“A year from now, how will I feel if I’m still here?”

How will you feel if you DON’T do the thing you need to do? For me, this answer is always: “crappy”. I’ll be angry at myself, or upset that I’ve been struggling with this for as long as I have (back to that SHAME HOLE I was referring to).. The truth is, time goes by whether we do something about it or not. The difference between people is how they use the time - and I want to use it to my advantage, rather than doing nothing because it’s comfortable (now), and sacrificing my long term health and happiness.

And we all need strategies, so I’ll share the ones that work for me:

Accountability partners are a great way to stay committed!

1. Get an accountability partner. The NEEDS to be someone that won’t accept excuses. It can be a friend who you set the goal together! I have a mentor, and he doesn’t care if I say I was tired, or had too many tasks. If I say I want to do something, then I don’t do it, his response is “why didn’t you do it, and what are you going to do to change that?”. LOVE IT. We need people to speak truth in the face of our own bullish*t.

2. Set a short term goal. Make a bet with friends. Sign up for a race. Commit to something that will force you to take action - and then don’t quit or back down. These are excellent motivators, especially when you commit BEFORE you’re ready. My favourite is when people say “I’ll do that once I’m fit.”. How about you commit to it in order to get fit?

3. Put money on it. Outsource your motivation to someone else! Either pay someone to coach you, keep you accountable, or commit to regular classes. This works VERY well for me, because I’m a cheap engineer (HA!), and HATE wasting anything, especially money. So if I decide to put money on it, it’s happening.

Those are my tricks. Let’s summarize: motivation is fleeting and willpower doesn’t work. The only way to become motivated is to create a routine (every damn day), so that you don’t think about it. When you start to think about it too much, resistance creeps in, and slows you down. Remember: how do you WANT to feel a year from now? So stop putting it off, and JUST START.

xoxo,

Leigh