I tell you if I wasn’t married to my wonderful wife Kim, I would be out of business, and likely out of ideas of what to write about. As I was thinking about what to write today, I just wasn’t feeling motivated because I was “stuck” and didn’t know what to write about. So I sent my wife a text message telling her that I was having trouble with what to write in my newsletter today.
Her response “Write about motivation and getting stuck… like you are now with your newsletter.” (Cue light bulb over my head.)
Well, that was an easy response… and genius. Of course I’m sure I’m not the only one to feel unmotivated because I feel stuck, I see it all the time in my line of work. In fact, it’s the number one reason why someone will contact me for help. It’s an all too common problem where we feel “stuck” in our goals in getting something done, whether it be the goal of completing a newsletter before the day is out or something much more challenging like changing the way you look and feel. Getting stuck truly is the fuel for losing motivation. So what can you do when you feel stuck? How can you get your motivation back and start taking action on your goals? Well the answer lies in the text to my wife.
“Action precedes motivation”
Most people hope and wait for motivation to come so they can take action when in fact, that line of thinking is backwards. You make motivation when you take action. Now it’s true that this is easier said than done, so let me make it easier and share with you 3 key ingredients to take action and make your own motivation.
Ingredient 1: Small, simple action
The smaller and easier the action is, the more likely you are to do it. So when you are trying to get motivated for even a single workout, don’t think about the entire workout ahead of you, just put your gym shoes on. Simple.
Ingredient 2: Support
Sometimes you just need a little support to help you see what you need to see in yourself in order to get it done. Don’t know what to do? Your trainer can have a plan for you. Reaching out for support can get you seeing those simple, easy-to-do solutions when your mindset is just not in that space.
Ingredient 3: Know your why
Of course you won’t really be motivated to accomplish a goal if you don’t know why you want that goal in the first place. Having a clear understanding of why you want to get into better shape is vital for success.
All these ingredients combine can create “the motivation you need to succeed”. (Sorry to sound like a cheesy infomercial with that line just there.)
In practice this can be so simple. Look back at my problem today with being stuck. My reason for writing these newsletters is to help you with real world solutions to real world problems in healthy living so I reached out to my support and got a simple solution. My first action was reaching out (that was simple enough), my second small and simple action was to write down the topic title and suddenly my motivation took off and I was able to write this with relative ease.
If you are feeling stuck and unmotivated, review what ingredients you need to make your motivation. Do you need to simplify and shrink your action step? Do you need the right type of support? Are you clear about why it’s important to you?
If you need support or help getting clear on your why give me a call, I can help.
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