Motivation vs Consistency

Staying consistent with knee mobility

If you are having trouble sticking with any type of training right now, check this out! Here are some common hurdles and strategies to overcome them.

Challenges you may be facing right now:

• Your motivation to workout is very low.

• Your stress is very high.

• There has been a change to your routine or schedule.

Consequences and implications of these 3 challenges:

Motivation - Once you start skipping workouts, your eating habits will take a dive, your health will start to deteriorate, you'll lose your strength and stamina, and depression and anxiety may rear their ugly head.

Stress - From a physical standpoint, it suppresses your immune system, increases risk of serious things like heart attack, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, insomnia, and low sex drive. From a psychological perspective, it makes you extremely vulnerable to depression/anxiety, extreme mood swings, high emotional reactivity, low patience, and poor decision making.

Lack of Routine - You feel like you’ve lost control of your day and your life. This can make you feel anxious, sad, more emotional than normal, and highly reactive to your environment. Without structure, you eat poorly, have poor sleep, and don’t use your time wisely. You often feel super busy and overwhelmed with “things to do” but you’re not making significant progress.

3 Tactics and Strategies to overcome each challenge:

Motivation

1. Eliminate negative and limiting labels like “I’m not an at-home workout person” or "I'm not a morning person." These do NOT serve you right now.

2. Get clear on your why behind on exercise routines in the first place. And then get crystal clear as to what happens if you DON’T exercise. How much worse will things get for you mentally and physically?

3. External accountability is more powerful than motivation. Let a coach and your peers hold you to a HIGHER standard than you will hold yourself to.

High Stress

1. Daily exercise - this is non-negotiable right now. It doesn't have to be the "perfect workout." Just MOVE, SWEAT and CHALLENGE yourself physically every day.

2. Journal - brain dump all the good, the bad, and the things that worried you today. Acknowledge them. Process them. Commit to moving forward and not letting these emotions own you.

3. Commit to stress relieving rituals like listening to a meditation podcast, coloring, reading, puzzles, walking, taking a bath, swimming, walking your animals, etc.

Lack of Routine

1. Weekly and daily planning is a MUST. Time block and schedule things like exercise, eating, and outdoor walks.

2. Creating boundaries with work, with screens, with people and social media.

3. Morning and evening rituals - bookend your days with rituals that help you clear your mind, feel in control and provide clarity.

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.

The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it. If you’re proud of how your hair looks, you’ll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it. If you’re proud of the size of your biceps, you’ll make sure you never skip an upper-body workout. If you’re proud of the scarves you knit, you’ll be more likely to spend hours knitting each week. Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.