Live Brave: This Health Journey

If you know me in real life or have been following my blog for a few years you will know that I am always trying to lose weight, that I am always on some sort of diet, and yet I just don't seem to be making any real progress in this area. In January I joined Slimming World and have been following the program ever since, having lost eight pounds so far. I wish that I could say that it has all been going smoothly but these past few weeks have not been too great. I find that when life gets stressful around me I turn towards food instead of continuing to focus on what is really important to me. The weight loss slows down and my motivation begins with dwindle.

This past week I have been thinking and spending time researching motivation. I read numerous articles and posts about motivation, about how to keep it and about how easy it is to lose it. The one thing that stood out to me in all the articles though was how this motivation thing seems to be more of a skill than anything else. Like other skills it needs to be practised and focused on. Motivation is your brain’s way of manipulating your body — and you should never lose sight of the fact that YOU hold the marionette strings!

These are the tactics that I found and that I am going to try to use to stay motivated.

1. Have a Vision In Mind

You have to know where you are going so that you will know when you have gotten there. Motivation is an abstract idea, so give yourself something tangible to work towards. What is it that you want to accomplish? What does your ideal look like at this moment? What do you want it to look like a year from now? 5 years from now?

Give yourself a minute to really think about those questions, and when you are done – say it out loud. Say it to the significant people in your life, to anyone who will listen. Make your vision public. My friend always says “If you can see it, you can be it.”

Also: Give yourself permission to change your mind. Your vision doesn’t need to be permanent, and if it is not working for you — MAKE A NEW ONE. I think this is where a lot of people get caught up and therefore de-motivated. If you’re not excited to do what you are doing, maybe you need to be doing something new. Now go figure out what that something is instead of wasting precious time!

2. Stay Focused on You

I think the first thing to recognise is that you can’t do everything.I want you to REALLY think about that. Everyone says they recognise this, yet they continue to try to do it all. You will never get anywhere (nor will you feel motivated to get anywhere) if you are constantly comparing you at your worst to to others at their best. Are you guilty of this? I know that I am. The thing is, if you have a vision but allow yourself to be distracted by what everyone else is doing, you are giving away your energy and your focus.

3. Cultivate Seeds of Inspiration

Read books related to your vision
Seek out a mentor
Watch an movie where triumph is a theme
Make a new Pinterest Board
Listen to good music
Call your mom (or someone else who sees you through rose coloured glasses!)
Talk to new people
Take a chance

Whatever it takes — but you must, YOU MUST, get in touch with that feeling inside of you. We all have it, but it takes work to allow yourself to be a conduit for inspiration. Do the work. And if you are not feeling inspired, seek out a different route.

4. Recognise When It’s Time for steaming ahead or taking time out

Motivation is just as much about being as it is about doing, but I think sometimes we forget that. Sure everything looks glossy when you are in the midst of kicking ass and checking things off lists but if you don’t shut down and recharge the batteries every once in a while your inspiration will leave. Nobody feels motivated when they are exhausted. In one of the books that I have been reading, the author stated that people give up on their goals for one of three reasons; exhaustion, disappointment or feeling overwhelmed. Allowing yourself to get to that point is setting yourself up for failure. This is the piece of motivation that I struggle with the most, but it is definitely worth keeping in the back of your mind. It’s easy to forget that giving yourself downtime ensures that when you give yourself the best opportunity to succeed.

5. Make A List

To-do lists are the best. Keep LOTS of lists. Lists for everything from tasks to ideas to quotes to random thoughts. I have a list for everything. Lists help my mind from being overwhelmed. But here’s the thing: They aren’t always organised, they aren’t alphabetical or filed by order of importance. But they are written down on paper. Most importantly they are expelled from my brain, freeing up valuable space in my mind. I can feel comforted by the fact that if I flip to a piece of paper my ideas will be there. It’s like a running tally of motivational fuel just waiting to be used.

6. Set Deadlines and Provide Rewards

Generally if something sits on a To-Do list I’ve made and I don’t get around to it, I use that as an indicator that it’s time to re-think my vision. But ultimately there are those times when we need to get motivated to things to that CAN’T be excised from the list. What motivates me on that stuff?

If something sits on my to do list and I don't get around to it, it's a good idea to use it as an indicator that it's time to re-think my vision. The thing is though, sometimes those things that haven't been done, still need doing. Those are the items that need motivation in order to be done. What have a learnt about motivation and tasks that you don't feel like doing? To get those things done, its best to face them with a deadline and a reward!