mummiez & daddiez magazine May - June Issue 2013

ourselves into action. But is this state
‘laziness’ or whatever else you want to label
yourself with?
Perhaps, you have not asked yourself the right
questions and therefore will not have the
powerful answers to kick you into action.
Try the following approach to increase your
chances of keeping you motivated and
reaching your goals.
Start small and let it flow
If your goal, for example is to lose 3 stone,
take your focus off the big goal and start
focusing on the mini goal, which is to lose 1-2
pounds per week. You can do this by
changing one unhealthy eating habit per week
rather than extreme dieting, which may only
last a few weeks. When you reach your goal
in this ‘flow state’ if literally feels effortless
and is more easily maintained.
Do what you enjoy
If you have established that diet alone is not
shifting your weight and you need to exercise,
then you need to do the type of exercise that
you will enjoy. If you have joined gyms in the
past and then never go, repeating this pattern
is not going to motivate you. Start by
revisiting your past, to establish what exercise
you may have enjoyed as a child or teenager.
If you enjoyed boxing then join a local boxing
class, if you loved dancing then go to aerobics.
If you are bored with what you are doing right
now then find something new to kick start
your motivation.
If you do not enjoy exercise, listen to music or
read a kindle while you do your cardio, this
will increase your chances of sticking to the
workout for longer.
Reward yourself with a cup of tea once you
have finished your workout.
It is all about timing
If you have a million things going on in your
life at once and something else is a very high
priority, then starting a new goal at this time
would not be ideal. Ensure that the timing is
right and that you can fully commit to your
goal to keep you motivated.
The time of day that you are working on your
goal is also important. If you have started
exercising and you resent working out in the
evening after a long day at work, then try
exercising first thing in the morning or during
your lunch break.
Find your why?
Keeping in tune with your ‘why’ is essential
for you to stick to your goal. Ask yourself
‘why do I want to achieve my goal to lose 3
stone?’ It is important that your ‘why’ is self
initiated, in other words it should not be
because someone else has told you that you
need to lose weight. If your answer is for
example ‘I want to be healthy and have energy
to play with my children’ when you are
lacking motivation, reminding yourself of
your ‘why’ is more likely to push you back
into action rather than telling yourself you are
lazy.
Three motivations for any action
Desperation – because I have to
Next time if you are ‘procrastinating’ and
lacking motivation in any area of your life, ask
yourself ‘am I pushing myself to do this
because I have to?’, if so you are acting out of
desperation.
It may be that you acting under pressure
because you left things too late, or maybe you
are putting unnecessary pressure on yourself
to do something that is not actually as
important as you are making it.
Rationalization – because I should
If your answer is ‘because I should’, then you
will be less likely to stick to your goal,
because your inner rebel will respond with
why you should not.
Inspiration – because I want to
The most effective state to be in to stay
motivated is to act out of inspiration, this is
when we want to do something because we
know our ‘why’ and our goal is self initiated.
Sharon Mercieca