Becca's Fab Five Motivators
All good things come to an end. And no matter how motivated you might be right now for your current exercise routine, it will change. It will eventually get hard to wake up, show up, man up. Or life might just get complicated with sick family members, financial issues, or a complete work overload. If you aren’t ready for it, this lack of motivation will wallop you right upside the head and you’ll fly right off the exercise train. When you finally come to your senses (however long that might take), the uphill climb back to the starting line can break you, literally and figuratively. With an Emergency Action Plan in place, you can bob and weave and avoid the whole fiasco.
Becca’s Fab Five Motivators
Just 10 minutes. You can do anything for 10 min. It’s really an insignificant amount of time and everyone can find 10 minutes somewhere in their day. If the idea of a 3 mile run or an hour long class or workout video makes you want to pull the covers over your head, give yourself some grace. Just 10 minutes…. that’s it. Set a timer for 10 minutes and get moving. You can walk or run or stretch or do some basic warm up stuff. It doesn’t matter. What DOES matter is that if it’s only 10 minutes, you can likely convince yourself to do it and at the end of 10 minutes, you’ll likely keep going. Having permission to cut it short might be just what you need to get it going in the first place!
Put in a Place Holder. Maybe the thing in your way is an injury or illness or maybe you finish 10 minutes and it still just IS NOT happening today. In this situation, my favorite tactic is a little strategy called Place Holder. This strategy builds a nice little wall around the time that you already worked so hard to carve out for exercise. It protects the square on your planner from complete and total infringement of your Right to Exercise. Take a minute to think about some other area of your health that needs some attention and plug it in there. Injured and can’t exercise? Use the hour where you would normally exercise to focus on your nutrition- cut up veggies, prep meals, try a new recipe. Exhausted from care taking for a sick parent? Use your exercise hour to practice yoga or meditation. The key is to use THE ACTUAL TIME SLOT… even if it seems a little silly to meal prep at 5 am! This strategy works because it protects the time slot for when you are back in the game; it keeps the habit in place.
Enlist a Friend. There is power in numbers, in community, in accountability. While the solo trip is great for the mental space, you aren’t always your own best motivator. When you Enlist a Friend, you add the extra layer of not letting someone else down. I don’t like to be committed to a friend or group for the long haul. So when I employ this strategy, I do it with an end goal… a race, an 8 week challenge, a vacation date, etc. It really really helps to enlist multiple friends. You can make an accountability Facebook Group, create a few set times for workouts, runs or walks, or make it a standing date with a spouse or child. Whoever you enlist, be sure to make an agreed upon goal and set the days and times up front for best success!
Change the Pace. I think we all have a preferred mode of exercise. Some people love HIIT workouts, other people love to run. Heavy Strength Training is a long standing fave. We can argue the value of any of these and make a giant list of pros and cons. The big truth, though, is that the most important thing for your health is to MOVE, in as many ways as possible and as often as possible. The great freedom in this truth is that when your motivation wanes, you can simply Change The Pace. Take what you normally do and make it slower, or faster. Slower repetitions will completely alter your strength regimen. Faster running repeats will revolutionize your running. If you are used to an hour and a half strength routine, try a 10 min HIIT workout. If you always do cardio, push through some tough strength workouts. These changes are sure to push you past a plateau and get you excited again.
Dangle a Carrot. When things get really bad, it’s time to pull out the big guns, the strategies that work for hard headed 2 yr olds. It’s time to Dangle a Carrot. Pick a reward that is in line with your goals and set the criteria. After I had my first baby, I had a weekly goal-” Exercise 100 total minutes.” I kept track of minutes of exercise and at the end of the week, give myself a small reward. A goal like this gave me flexibility to do a lot or a little on any given day. It made every little bit count, rather than seem worthless. Most importantly, it got some momentum going. Grab a star chart, smiley face stickers, or whatever floats your boat and start racking up the little triumphs!
Low motivation does not have to derail the whole train! With some good strategies in place, you can stop the whole cycle before it gets out of hand. Before you know it, you’ll be past the slump, over the hill, and cruising along as a much more fit version of you!
