Running motivation

You know, a person that is motivated 24/7 is a myth. It doesn’t exist. Motivation is a spark that gives us a powerful explosion of will in a given moment to do something, but goes out very quickly. In order to in achieve the results  you have set in your fitness/workouts or any other project in your life you cannot rely just on your motivation. When motivation fades, you gotta have have a few tricks in your sleeve to keep you “running” towards your goal. Here are a few tips you might find useful:

1. Acknowledge the rule of least resistance.
By default, your subconscious-mind, the ruler of your body, is a lazy entity. It follows a simple universal rule that is found in chemistry, physics and other natural phenomena: the path of least resistance. That is, your sub-mind will seek the path of least energy. If it can avoid doing something, you bet it will. It won’t get off its ass in the morning to go jogging. No. It has to be trained over a very long period of time (to build an habit), but until then you must make it do what you will.

2. Ignore your inner dialogue.
Now this one is very important. We all had those inner dialogues when you know you have to do something like to go running in the morning and start looking for excuses: “It’s cold outside you’ll get sick”, “You look awful when running, what will the people say”, “I am too tired today, I went to sleep very late last night. If I go now, I’ll be very tired all day.”, etc., etc., etc. In most cases (like 99%) these statements are false excuses. Even if your inner self was right 1% and you DO get cold after running: the positive build-up of your will is far more valauble than having cold for a day or two.

I have found a solution that works for me like a charm: I just ignore these dialogues. You cannot stop them: at least, in the beginning (when you build an habit they will disappear gradually. But YOU CAN ignore them). Just listen to your inner whining while starting what you have set to do. Mostly, the dialogue will disappear within the first 5 minutes as your sub-conscious realizes that you are un-bribable and cannot be talked out of your goal. This is really amazing. Who would have thought that you are NOT in control of your own body, by default. You have to take the control by power. Power of will by ignoring excuses.

3. Set goals and make them public.
The Runner’s Magazine suggests signing up for a competition regularly and making it public (among your family and friends). It doesn’t matter whether it’s a small or big one. This will kill two rabbits with one stone: First, you will be more motivated to go out and train since you have a definite goal and date to train for. Secondly, your submind will be more cooperative because it does care whothers will say should you flunk the competition after promising (publicly) to participate.

Don’t let anyone, incluiding your inner self, to talk you out of your goals!

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How to get started with a Bodytweaking fitness lifestyle?

Have you ever felt convinced and motivated to do something, but still failed even to do the first step because you simply felt that you didn’t know where or how to start? Fitness has become a very broad topic. Millions of advices, journals, blogs, “experts”… how can you ever get an overview over a specific topic you are interested in?

This amount of data can actually overwhelm you and paralyze you. You will think “Oh my God, there is so much about this topic and I don’t know anything about it… It would take years to even get a glimpse at the basics…” And there goes your motivation down the hill. Your subconscious builds automatically resistance and blocks your way forward.

This happens in many areas of life, but most of all – you shouldn’t allow it to happen with your fitness. A wise man said that happiness lies in ignorance. In the first place – you do not have to know. You have to have fun and you have to feel free.

  1. Stop chasing the knowledge - look at it as the first requirement in your new fitness lifestyle. Your first action is to actually get physical exercise. If you feel motivated, you can read about the topic afterwards. This has also the benefit that you can draw parallels between what you have just experienced and what you are reading.
  2. Prototyping – This is a concept from software development. A software developer takes a look at the problem and then simply goes and programs a quick-and-dirty solution. It doesn’t have to solve the problem 100%, be pretty, complete or totally functional. The point is to get your feet wet and put the first milestone. You can always refine the details at a later point.
  3. Do not be afraid of doing something wrong – Do not be afraid of doing something wrong and being labeled as a newbie. Go your own path, do not let the thoughts about “what others may think” cloud your experience. Enjoy what you are doing. Smile. You will instantly feel more confident and perform better.

To start with the Bodytweaking lifestyle I will just give you a hint: Run. Run 2-4 times a week. And now stop reading and go running. Everything else will come later :-)

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How to find the energy for fitness

Energy has many forms and applications: you need creative energy to be innovative and start new ventures. You need physical energy to withstand physical challenges. You need sexual energy to be good in bed. You need inner strength to appear self confident and simply get things done. No matter how you call it: Life force, chi, ki, whatever – there is still on simple truth: all energy forms are interchangeable.

Let us suppose you are thinking about starting a bodytweaker lifestyle. You might have already allocated those extra 15-30 minutes per day and the motivation to get yourself started. Nevertheless you know something about yourself: you tend to give up after a week or two, due to the fact that you feel tired and lack the energy for that workout after a long day on the job. This is the most common excuse (next to time deficit) when it comes to people turning their back on a fitness lifestyle.

The beauty of energy is that you can generate it. The law of attraction says that you will attract more energy, the more you have of it and the more you release. You might know that principle from other sources in life (rich people get richer). A person with a lot of energy feels more and more energy coming back, the more energy he/she releases. You are naturally attracted to these people and feel energized yourself just by being next to them. You actually feel that special presence when such a person enters the room.

Those people are bundles of power that simply make things happen. Those people are the part-time entrepreneurs that find the strength and motivation to work at nights on a vision, a project, when wife and kids are already sleeping in bed. Those are the people that become world-class experts in a given field. Those are the athletes that run that extra mile.

The best part of the story is that once you learn how to generate your own power and ability to attract and bundle energy. It can be applied to any part of you life. So once you find the energy for fitness, you will naturally attract more and more of it in different forms and become more and more successful in other areas.

Energy for fitness

Energy for fitness

So let us begin.

1. Accept your free choice

First thing in finding and keeping energy is the acceptance of your own ability to decide what to do with it.
You do not have to workout four times a week. You do not have to go jogging before work. There is absolutely no pressure from outside, and if there is, ignore it. Never ever give the power of decision to others. You must have the power to decide how to live your life. Others may or may not accept it, but they do not live your life. You do. Once you give them an opportunity to decide over what you should or should not be doing, you actually give them control over your energy.
Never ask anybody permission to live your life how you want it. Only when you understand that you are free to live a happy life as a couch potato, only then you will be able to embrace fully a bodytweaking lifestyle. The principle of free choice is the main tool you need to be able to direct your energies into a certain direction.
What will your wife think or say if you decide to put your alarm clock on 5:00am each morning to go for a run? Do not answer that question. The point is: why would you care? Make the decision and do it. If she likes it or not, is her problem. Your decision is what you are. If she does not like your decisions, she does not have to be married with you, but that again, is her decision :-)

2. Stop self-pity and complaining

When you complain you actually direct your powers into reinforcement of all the negatives that you actually need to avoid. Statements, either said or thought, like “I am too tired to go for a run right now”, actually direct energy into that statement and make it come true. You drain yourself of power and the energies you have are actually used to create something you do not want. Stop right there. You do not have to be over-optimistic and feed yourself constantly with positive thoughts, but you can at least stop whining, either explicitly or implicitly. If you don’t go for a run, you do not go. Period. Don’t look for excuses by complaining or whining. Once you do it, you will actually find yourself more often running down the street :-)

3. Never allow doubts control your decisions

This one is similar to the one above. The point here is again not to direct energies into negative thought patterns. “Maybe I won’t be able to run that half-marathon in a month”, “Maybe it will take too long, till I lose 50 pounds of weight”, … Or maybe it is a good idea to shut the h*** up? Spare your energies in actually doing something instead of thinking about what you will or will not be able to do. Remember the law of attraction? The more thought you give to doubts, the more doubts and failure you will attract.

4. Take small steps. Let the way be your aim, not the destination

There is a lot of advice about “how to reach your goals” out there and most of those urge you to keep the eyes on your goals. There is a problem with this approach though. If your goal is one that requires a lot of work on your part, the more you look at it, the further away it will appear. Most of us are not patient enough to be willing to work for something that is far away. We need instant results.

In a way it is like throwing a stone at a tree that is 60 yards away. You will lose a lot of energy and get impatient. While it is necessary to know your goals and want to reach them, do not become over-obsessed with them. Instead visualize your way as a set of many small goals that lead to your main goal. Focus your attention on each single step you make and congratulate yourself on accomplishing each single part. This way you will learn to perceive each workout as a part of your dream come true. Be grateful for what you have done and you will feel more and more energized to do it again.

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