Whatever your goal might be, you need to know ‘why’ you’re doing it.
“Thats easy, I’m doing it because I want to lose weight”
That’s great, but why do you want to lose weight?…
“Because I don’t feel nice about myself”…
Here’s the thing. When you first start working towards a goal, it’s easy. Motivation is high, not even the temptation of a Curlywurly can derail you from your goals, and the fact you’re so stiff from Spinning that you can barely walk isn’t a problem…
“It’ll be worth it”.
But it never stays like that, at some point usually at the 3 or 4 week mark it’ll get tough, your motivation will start to dwindle and you’ll be tempted to chuck it all in.
It’s at this point you need to really understand your ‘why’…
Picture the scene…
It’s 5.30am…
It’s the middle of winter….
Your alarm goes off and you instantly hear the rain pounding against the window…
You’re warm and cozy in bed and then it dawns on you….
it’s scheduled as a workout day….
And so it begins.. that inner conversation we all have inside of our own heads..
“It’s ok, i’ll go tomorrow”…
“My legs are already a bit sore from Monday, I better not push it”…
“it’s unfair to leave the dog”…
“Sleep is important”…
It’s at that exact point you need to call upon the power of your ‘why’.
But here’s the thing… Do you really think that having a ‘why’ of “I don’t feel nice about myself” or “I want a six pack” is going to kick it and give you the spur of energy you need to drag yourself from the coziness of your bed out in the cold and dark to kick your own ass in the gym?
I think not.
So if thats the case, how do you supercharge your ‘why’ and turn it into one that will ward off the evils of Curlywurlys, and persuade you to spring out of bed (well.. maybe not spring, lets go with crawl) and head over to the gym?
Drum roll please….
Your ‘why’ needs to be linked to an EMOTION…
Let me ask you this…
What’s going to a stronger motivator?…
“I want to lose weight and get fit”
or
“If i lose weight and get fit, my back will hurt less which means I’ll be able to play with my kids more and give them a better childhood”.
I’ll also share my own personal example…
I’m always looking to build muscle and perform better in the gym…
But in all honestly, when I’m struggling with motivation (and believe it or not, even trainers struggle with motivation from time to time) if I think of mastering a muscle up or having bigger guns, when the chips are down and I’m debating opting for the easy way out, that isn’t gonna cut it…
So what’s my ‘why’ that I go to when I’m stared at in the face by a multipack of Curlywurlys?
It’s the thought of being hypocrite.
If i spend my days preaching one thing but then doing another, in my eyes that makes me a hypocrite.. and seriously… is there anything worse than a hypocrite?!
Am I perfect?
No.
Do i miss workouts?
Never.
Ok… Occasionally….
But when I’m struggling for motivation and looking for reasons to take the easy way out, the thought of being a hypocrite is (99% of the time) enough for me to suck it up and get it done.
So there we have it, the secret recipe to supercharging your ‘why’.
Nobody else can tell you what your ‘why’ is, so spend some time being honest with yourself and ask yourself ‘why’ you want to achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.
Why is it important to you?
If you’re overweight, ‘why’ do you want to lose weight?
Is it because you overheard somebody making a comment about you?
How did that make you feel?
Harnessing emotions like that can be a powerful tool in keeping you laser focussed on your goals.
Whatever it is, if you can identify your ‘why’ and tie it to an emotion, it’ll be 10x as powerful and much more likely to make you laugh in the face of curlywurlys.
But then again, they’re not THAT bad for you…