Hi there,
When people look at all the photos and videos of fitness models, they often think, “Gosh, I wish I was that motivated”. But the reality is, these folks are most likely posting these pictures because it is their profession. When something is your profession, you do whatever you can to be the best in that field.
But what about the rest of us and our desire to improve our health, lose weight, or start a new fitness program? It truly does take some motivation! However, the biggest obstacle is taking that first step, booking an introductory meeting with a coach, or walking into the gym. While the workouts and behavior change may be hard, recognizing that you need help requires the most amount of energy.
Motivation is definitely a finite resource. We see that all the time at the beginning of the year. The first week of January has the highest attendance at gyms/fitness facilities and then there is a huge drop off into February and the months following. But there is a small percentage who begin a new program and stick with it.What’s their secret?
Success breeds motivation.
What that truly means is that motivation is in fact, a finite resource. It can, however, be replenished by identifying the wins during the journey. Each accomplishment shows you that you’re one step closer to your goals. That shortened distance will encourage you to not give up. This can be seen when someone identifies small successes such as: a drop on the scale (we can talk more about that at another time), clothes fitting better, not getting winded when walking up the stairs, keeping up with the kids in the park, not having pain, the list is endless.
Lowenstein’s gap theory states that when people see that they are closer to the goal than they think, they are more likely to accomplish them.And it’s true. Try it out right now. Write down your fitness goal. Identify one “win” that has gotten you one step closer to it. Does your fitness goal seem a little less daunting? Are you more willing to continue?
In our community, we post on our private facebook group with what is called a “bright spot”. These are the small wins over the week to show that we have made forward progress towards our goal. That success will breed motivation for us to continue working hard. The great thing is that there is an endless amount of things that we can identify that shows us that we’ve made forward progress.
Once we hit that goal, guess what? It is on to the next!It turns into a fun little game and it will continue to grow your motivation.
Making a change takes work. But one simple step will help you identify that success is closer than you think.
If you are looking for help taking that first step, no worries, you already have by being a part of reading this email. So my question for you is, what will your next win be?
Talk soon,
Ashley
