Croton Mom & Bodybuilder Talks Motivation

Wanting More for Yourself

Would it surprise you to hear that there are days when it’s hard for us to stay motivated?  Well, it is.  Sometimes when I think about what I need to accomplish from the start of the day until the end I want to retreat back into bed and pull the covers over my head!!  So you might wonder what keeps me going?  What keeps my motivation thriving?  I always want more!!!!!

Some might think this sounds greedy or selfish.  The words greedy and selfish are negative words and I choose to use positive words in my day.  Wanting more means motivating myself to accomplish my goals, reach my dreams and live my day to the fullest!!!

So how do I stay motivated?  I nurture my motivation by quieting my negative thoughts with positive ones and keeping focus on my goals which in turn helps me come out of any slumps before those slumps gain momentum.

Why do we lose motivation in the first place? It’s a lack of confidence; lack of focus and lack of direction.  If we don’t truly believe we can succeed at something, what is the point in trying?  If we don’t know what we want, how do we know what to go after?  And when we do know what we want but don’t know how to get it, sometimes we lose the motivation to go for it.

How do I find my confidence?  I think about all I can do.  I think about my strengths rather than focusing on my weaknesses.  I start my morning (before I even put one foot on the floor) stating what I am grateful for.  This immediately turns my mindset into a positive one for the day.  I also think about my past successes.  I make a mental list of my achievements and I remember how good they felt.  Try this-immediately you will feel your spirit lift and feel a real confidence boost!!

Lack of focus!!  How often do you focus on what you don’t want, rather than on a concrete goal? Here are a few examples  I don’t want to weight this…. ; I don’t want to be unhealthy; I don’t want to eat that anymore; I don’t want to drink that anymore; I don’t want do this job; I don’t want to do this; I don’t want to do that- sound familiar?  We normally think in terms of fear. I’m afraid of being unhealthy; I’m afraid of losing my job; I’m afraid! Fear is an emotion, not an action, so it drains our motivation and prevents us from moving forward.

Rather than focus on what you don’t want to happen, turn what you want to happen into a goal.  I don’t want to be unhealthy becomes I want to lower my cholesterol.  Now all of the sudden your goal becomes a game plan.  The next logical question is how do I lower my cholesterol?  Then the next step begins to formulate itself and the next and the next.  Within minutes of turning your fear into a goal (turning a negative thought into a positive one) you have an action plan!!!

Ahhh direction!   If focus means having a goal, then direction is having a day-to-day strategy to achieve it. Without a next step we tend to procrastinate reaching our ultimate goal. So what do I do?  I write a daily list of actions that naturally came about when I turned my fear into a goal.  Let’s use our example goal of “I want to lower my cholesterol.”  We already know that after we identified our goal, the question was how do I do it?  Well, I know that my doctor or a nutritionist can help guide me and give me the necessary information I need to lower my cholesterol.  On my daily action plan I list out:  call doctor or find a nutritionist.  Either one of these activities will help me reach my goal and in turn reach success.  This action plan will direct your energy towards reaching your ultimate goal and more importantly will keep you motivation thriving!!!