How do you get motivated when you really can not be bothered!How do you get motivated when you really can not be bothered!
I am hearing this a lot lately from clients and friends, who have the best intentions but have a massive case of the CBF’s!
We all know that eating cleaner and moving more will help you to feel better as a human, then why don’t we do it? Why would the peeps of this world rather sit on the couch and binge-watch Netflix (yes the MJ Doco was pretty good, and Dead to Me - epic) and hang out in the cookie jar than move. To move and feel better, to feel more motivated to feel more alive and to get out and see what our beautiful world has to offer?
A lot of the time, people don’t think they are worth feeling better, they don’t value who they are and what they do. I know a few of my clients struggle to put themselves first. Its always, the kids, work, other family and friends before they think about their health.
Another reason, l hear from listening to my clients speak - is that they lack motivation. This is a big one. You aren’t always pumped up and ready to go and brush your teeth every morning and night? Are you? No, most of the time you like the effect that brushing your teeth has - and who doesn’t love some fresh breath?
There is much pressure put on ‘motivation’, and you know what, motivation doesn’t care what you do. Motivation doesn’t care how it gets used. It’s us as humans who put the value of the emotion onto it.
The human race is great at finding excuses not to do things. Let’s blame motivation for everything!
There are times in life when you just have to do things, like clean the toilet or go to work and work with people who you don’t really like. Do you stand at the toilet door fist-pumping, yelling ‘yeah I’ve got this…?’ Or ‘COME ON!’ I think maybe you just go and clean the toilet and then enjoy having a clean toilet?
It is easy to fall down the rabbit hole of, l can’t be bothered, then blaming motivation for not lifting its game and making you more excited to do something. For example, blaming the ice cream for making you put on some weight - sorry guys, it wasn’t really the ice creams fault, it was the hand that belongs to the person who is putting the wonderful tasting sweet bliss into their mouth.
We are all know how great we are going to feel after we move or eat a little better, we know that we will sleep better. With more people sleeping better the world will become a much happier place, there would definitely be less grumpy people walking the streets.
I often hear as well, ‘l only had 10mins l didn’t it was worth it!’ ARRRRR, people, people (my three readers) It is part of the Fitness Industry sales pitch to make you think you need to be at the gym for an hour, and also wear all of the latest exercise gear and have all the gadgets too. Move like this person and you will look like them and so on.
Guess what, you don’t have too! Think about your movement and exercise plan as a bank account. Every time that you move, no matter how long or short of a session all of those reps go into an exercise bank account. We all think that $5 isn’t much if you put $5 away every day for a month, 30 days you will have $150 saved - now that is many coffees to be had!
If you walk 1km a day for 30 days, you would have walked 30km in a month - now that sounds impressive!
‘But l am not as fit as what they are!’ Guess what, they started at the same place that you did, at the beginning. The only difference is, is that you didn’t see it. Saying a work out is easy, can be putting another person’s efforts down. We are all different, some things we find easier than others and likewise. You may think that the person is making the workout look easy, but you truly don’t know what that person has been through to get there, or how they are really feeling - they may be dying on the inside, but have a great poker face.
‘Nearly 30% of Australian adults engaged in low levels of physical activity (less than 150 minutes in the last week)’ Research and Statistics - Department of Health
30% of Australians are moving at the moment, which is brilliant, seeing as though gyms are closed. This information tells us that you don’t need to join a gym, or make movement anything fancy. All people need to do is use their and feet and walk. The health benefits are massive, especially for Mental health! Can you imagine a society living with less medication?
The one thing that l share with my clients, is don’t let motivation rule your life! And try not to put too much emotion on motivation. It is what it is at the end of the day, some days it will be good, another day not so much - all you can do is show up and see what happens!
Be honest with yourself, set your ‘why’, why you want to exercise, why you want to eat cleaner, why you want to feel better, and think back to your own personal why when times get tough.
And l challenge you, can you walk 1km a day for 30 days?
