Finding Motivation to Reach Yo Goals
I wanted to write a quick post today on finding motivation. I get this question a lot : how do you find the motivation for X? For me it all came down to a choice, and ultimately a moment of "I'll show you". Now its come to a deeper place of putting myself and my goals first. Always. However, I don't just wake up every day with shit tons of energy and motivation to go get the things done. Some days, I wake up and bed seems like a much better plan.
First lets break down a few of my goals:
- gym 4-5 times a week
- eating well
- read 50 books this year (update, I am super behind but I'm still plugging away)
- grow this blog
Now, I can probably bet you $50 that most of you had the lofty goal to workout and eat better this year. Right? You may be sitting there nodding your head as you read, and then thinking - oops, that didn't happen. The reason for this is that most people fail to follow through on their goals within the first 3 weeks. Shocked? You shouldn't be. How many goals have you set that you never reached? Seriously think about it. Here is a few pieces of advice for when setting goals.
First, make them SMART. Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and trackable or timely. Makes sense right? Second, and this is a piece of advice I love: set goals that you absolutely know you can surpass. Don't set a goal that is seemingly impossible. Create a number of small goals that build up to your ultimate goal. For instance, you aren't going to set a goal of buying a house in 1 month if you haven't saved a penny. Instead, you could set the goal of saving X amount of dollars a month for X amount of months, until you have a 20% down payment. On top of that, you set the goal to improve your credit score by doing x,y, and z.
Setting the goal is easy, the execution is the hard part. And this is where people struggle with motivation. So here are my ways of finding motivation, when I just don't feel like doing the thing.
1. Make sure your goals are backed by desire and a strong willingness to show up. If you set a goal, and there is absolutely no feeling behind it - you've already failed. When I set my goal of doing a January Whole30, it was around a feeling of getting back on track, and preparing my body for having a baby. I so wanted to be healthy for that little bundle of joy that would be mine. Instead, life had other plans (obviously), and my desire behind being well had to shift. It then became about being the most empowered, sexy, healthy and radiant version of me ever. I wanted to show up and eat well, and exercise for me - because when I feel and look good, I attract people of a certain vibration. And hey, the desire and motivation behind a goal may change - all that matters is you have an emotional connection to it.
2. Have an accountability partner. Whether this is your actual partner or a best friend, have someone you can call or text when you don't feel like doing the thing. I text my friend S, ALL the time. I have frequently said, I don't wannnnnna do this workout (like a little baby), and she always tells me I can do it. She also has my back when my body is telling me to slow down, and I need to take a day. I'll even text her during a workout, and let her know how I'm doing. If your goals are fitness related, I highly recommend an apple watch. For a few reasons. It tracks everything for you, including your heart rate AND you can now have competitions with your besties. It tracks all your movement, and then scores you based on that and you can compete against each other in 7 day intervals. Its highly motivated and just kinda fun getting competitive.
3. Buy yourself something that helps you with your goals. If I am lacking some motivation in the gym for example, I may go buy myself some new shorts or a new tank, or some new kind of equipment (I love peachbands for this). If I'm feeling blah about my diet, I'll go buy a new supplement (my new faves are Paleoethics), OR try a new meal, OR buy a new cookbook for inspiration. You could also buy yourself something small like a journal for tracking, or some kind of little reminder that you can see.
4. Have your goals and the motivation behind the goals visible. I find my motivation through vision boards. And they are everywhere. I have the background of my phone set to my vision board, I'm creating a massive vision board in my closet, I have vision boards on Pinterest - you get the point. I create vision boards that have visual cues of my goal, as well as the emotion behind it and this is key to finding motivation. Some days when I look at that and think of how I am going to feel 3, 6, or 12 months from now, it gives me the kick in the ass I need to push forward.
This is my current virtual vision board. I make them using keynote and then take a screenshot and put it everywhere. It may not be super obvious what my goals are from some of the photos to you, but to me its super clear. Clarity is beautiful.
So this was a quick post on how I find motivation - mostly its about having a genuine and deep desire for change. How do you find motivation and what goals are you currently chasing?
