THE MYTH OF MOTIVATION (AND WHAT YOU NEED INSTEAD)

mamagirl49

Bless you Captian! I like it alot.

sluggz

glad i read this today, it came up at the perfect time. Thanks for sharing.

upnorthgirl01

Perfect.

moment_to_arise

That’s only as hard as the story we tell ourselves.

Best thing I have read on here in a long time.

bethanytowell

This should be a sticky on every board....a requirement to read when you sign up!

adoreme214

I love this post. Thanks! I'm on Jillian Michaels Body Revolution (day 3). Eating my breakfast right now & was thinking how I miss the Bull$*%t I ate that got me where I'm at. At the same time reading your post I am encouraged to do what I set out to to do. I'm dedicated to enduring this 97 days successfully!

Rosylee1976

Many thanks for this post - it has really helped me.

MissNordicLight

Thank you for posting this, now I'm heading off to Vic's blog to get MORE

darkrider42

Let me pile on too! :bigsmile:

This has rung so very true for me too. I loved the analogy to quitting smoking because it really is *just* like that. I personally know several people (myself included) that struggled internally with quitting smoking. I tried a few times to stop, but it wasn't until I truly *DECIDED* I was done that the battle was finally won. And then it became easy. Peaceful. Those other people? They haven't gotten there yet and are still struggling and smoking. They're just not really ready I guess.

I've given several people the link to this thread now. Thank you very much for posting it.

JenFit77

Love it, Bump! :-)

fayefern

Bump to read again later thanks

Ideabaker

Straightforward truth. Everyone on MFP should read this. Thanks so much for posting!

Kookyk9s

From my fridge magnet:

"Self respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself."

Abraham Joshua Heschel

myrealname

Bump to read it over and over again.

sabified

From my fridge magnet:

"Self respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself."

Abraham Joshua Heschel

I think I need that magnet...

paprikas

Bump

moveyourself

bump

Froody2

I remember reading this when it was first posted and thought I'd tagged it but nooo. Was thinking the other day I would have loved to read it again but couldn't for the life of me find it. Nice bit of serendipity, eh :flowerforyou:

FrankieBenjamin

cheers for sharing this! its so true we have to motivate ourselves :0)

JenFit77

bump to keep it going

Cinloykko

Bump

aquarabbit

Bump. This is great!

judyde

Bump. Love this!!

_HeartsOnFire_

I think I just fell in love...with this post...

likitisplit

If we can motivate ourselves to shower and floss our teeth every living day, we can motivate ourselves to Dorito in moderation and move our butts for 30 minutes.

verdemujer

Bump for more reading when I have some time.

takeshia2

Great post! Thank you for sharing.

connieleavens

Bump - To read on those days I feel like making excuses

phytogurl

This is from fitness blogger Vic Margay.

http://www.vicmagary.com/blog/fitness-motivation/

“Motivated, motivated, hell yeah I’m motivated. Ooo Ah, I wanna kill somebody. Killlllll!!!”

As part of the Army’s brainwashing process (better known as Basic Training), mantras like the one above shouted in unison by a platoon of young men with shaved heads often made Basic Training feel like some sort of twisted psycho cheerleading camp instead of preparation to become Infantry soldiers.

But we were motivated.



Or were we? If you include fear of punishment and peer pressure as motivation, then the environment at Ft. Benning was certainly motivating.

But were we self-motivated? No, most of us standing in heel-to-toe lines and referring to our new Army buddies by last name only at Ft. Benning, Georgia in the autumn of 1998 were not self- motivated. And it is acquiring and maintaining this self-motivation that I am often asked about in the realm of diet and fitness. But here’s the thing…


Lack of motivation to follow a healthy diet and commit to consistent exercise is a myth.

You are going to die. And neglecting your health and fitness is more likely to hasten your departure. Furthermore, the days you do have will be spent with less energy and more pain if you choose to eat crap and be sedentary. The motivation, the “why”, to exercise and eat nutritious foods in appropriate quantity is present and strong. The bigger mystery is why we choose to ignore the need for proper diet and exercise in the face of obvious requirement.

We do not need motivation. We need decision.




We need unwavering non-negotiable decision. And yes, I know that the pic above was not taken during Hurricane Sandy (although I thought it was when I posted it to my Facebook page). But it was taken during a torrential down pour at some point in recent history. It absolutely captures the fortitude and decision of those soldiers to stand by their post no matter what hardship may be encountered.

If those soldiers can decide to endure the elements, then we can decide to put down the damned pizza and beer.

Or forgo the free bagels at the office. Or wake up a half hour early to exercise. Or keep a food journal everyday. Or what ever else we know we need to do but keep failing to commit to because it is “hard”.

Enduring chemotherapy is hard.

Hitting a fast ball in the major leagues in hard.

Negotiating nuclear disarmament from a hostile nation is hard.

Saying goodbye to a loved one in the hospital or the veterinarian’s office for the last time is hard.

But putting down the cookies and picking up the spinach? That’s only as hard as the story we tell ourselves.

What is often called lack of motivation is actually lack of discipline and lack of habit. I’ve posted about discipline and habit before – those entries lack the sexy headlines such as “1 weird trick to lose belly fat” and often do not get more than the cursory glance. And that’s unfortunate because it is discipline and habit that hold the keys to not only losing weight or getting strong, but to anything that we want in life.

You already know what to do to lose weight and get in shape. The smaller details will vary but the big picture is always to eat real food in appropriate quantity and move in a manner that is continually challenging. The problem is not lack of knowledge or lack of motivation. The problem is lack of decision.

Decide. Now.

Share your thoughts on motivation, decision, and the mental/emotional hurdles we face when it comes to diet, fitness, and weight loss in the comments below.

Stay strong

"What is often called lack of motivation is actually lack of discipline and lack of habit. I’ve posted about discipline and habit before – those entries lack the sexy headlines such as “1 weird trick to lose belly fat” and often do not get more than the cursory glance. And that’s unfortunate because it is discipline and habit that hold the keys to not only losing weight or getting strong, but to anything that we want in life."

"The problem is lack of decision."

^^ I like this part of the post! Bump!

cwolfman13

One of the few zombie posts I don't mind seeing over and over and over again. Kinda cool too as this post was my first introduction to the good captain.