Motivation
Could you be bothered?
No matter how we glamorize it, package it or sell it, making lifestyle changes is always going to require a big effort. What do you want? What makes you tick? Is it realistic and achievable? These are some of the questions you should be asking yourself before you even start to jump feet first into new routines only to beat yourself up weeks later having tried but failed. We have all been touched by a moving story or lost a loved one through illness and swore that we would turn some of our negative habits into positives – swapping the fags and the pizza for a pair of runners and a healthy salad.
Motivation is the emotion that tugs at your heart strings and gets you fired up for action. Success though is all about discipline and not motivation. Starting with the end in mind and setting well formed goals is the first step. What exactly are you trying to achieve and how are you going to get there? It’s about keeping your focus and building on your strengths, step by step. Every day reinforcing new and healthier habits.
Of course there are days when motivation seems a million miles away and you are left feeling deflated and vulnerable. Just do it! Push through the invisible pain barrier, like an ultra marathon runner on their last ten miles. Go for that walk or run that you promised yourself, get to the gym or just walk up and down your stairs twenty times. Have just one biscuit instead of the whole pack and then pat yourself on the back for overcoming the urge to accept setbacks and replace it with discipline and self belief.
Observe a wire cable or strong rope. It is not built with one single strand. Many, many individual fibres are twisted together to give it strength and resistance. And even if one or two fray or break the strength is still intact. Build on your strengths with discipline and courage. As they wind and twist together to form the new lifeline that is you, any temporary lapse in motivation will serve as a chance to let go and grow.
We build our lives one thought at a time and include discipline as the backbone to our success – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.
