THE MYTH OF MOTIVATION (AND WHAT YOU NEED INSTEAD)

12357…25

Replies

  • Lt_Starbuck
    Lt_Starbuck Posts: 576 Member
    BUMP
  • quirkytizzy
    quirkytizzy Posts: 4,052 Member
    I'm getting frustrated seeing all the gimmicks being pushed on girls (and guys too!) to help them get started. Everyone is so convinced that getting started is the hard part. The insurmountable wall of DAY ONE or WEEK ONE.

    It breaks my heart. There aren't a million steps here. You dont need to follow couch to 5K through to the end before you can learn to run on your own or call yourself a runner. You dont need to master working out in your living room alone before you are allowed to join a gym. You don't need to take a group weights class before you can start liftin heavy. You don't need to hire a trainer before you can start learning how to plot out and organize your own workouts.

    You don't have to have 4000 specific starting steps to get to the point where you have actually started. This is all just procrastination. I learned this the hard way as well.

    There is one step to starting... START. Own your DAY ONE like something no one can take away from you.

    THEN - THEN you build your momentum. Then you get rolling. Once you let go of that all-important starting point (cause it doesn't have that much hold on your progress, it's just a Bon Voyage to the old complacent you) then you can start building speed and living your new lifestyle. Really sinking your teeth in deep with something. Get going so strong that it's almost impossible for anyone or anything to stop you, only slow you down a little.

    Every aspect of fitness can be dug into deep. From low impact water cardio to Xtreme Adventures in the Serengeti. Don't play around with everything just a little bit cause you're a commitment phobe, that's just delaying your progress. Decide something is worth mastering (or at least mastering for yourself, maybe not Olympics). When you can be consistent in something for several months, then you're in deep enough to deserve results.

    I see all these people talking about building up the momentum to finally start and I just stare at the screen.

    DO SOMETHING! STICK WITH IT! EVOLVE!!

    /rant

    *applauds*
  • culbersontwit
    culbersontwit Posts: 4 Member
    Every decision requires motivation. Otherwise, you wouldn't make a decision; you'd have status quo.

    mo·ti·va·tion
    Noun
    1. The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
    2. The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.
  • skeo
    skeo Posts: 471 Member
    Bump...Bump...a million times bump!
  • sunshineandprayers
    sunshineandprayers Posts: 38 Member
    Post really moved me today. Just went to Bikram and did the best I have ever done. During all the postures was thinking to myself "decide" to do it and I seriously pushed farther than ever. Thank you!
  • BuckeyeBabe10
    BuckeyeBabe10 Posts: 204 Member
    <3
  • fit_and_fab_after_kids
    fit_and_fab_after_kids Posts: 43 Member
    just what i needed to read :)
  • Indygirl_81
    Indygirl_81 Posts: 142 Member
    Great, I needed this.... thank you!
  • Spokez70
    Spokez70 Posts: 548 Member
    Outstanding
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    DO SOMETHING! STICK WITH IT! EVOLVE!!

    It's strange that this popped up in my feed today. I'm in the process of dealing with death and doing one of those hard things that the OP talks about.

    For me, it isn't about motivation or decisions. But this, quoted above.

    Act, do, make. Try, reach, fail. Get up and do again.
    We are measured by our actions not our decisions or motivation.
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
    ETA - the thing I always say when someone says "That had to be such hard work!" or some such comment - "Not really. Once I decided to do it, the rest was easy."

    That's what I think in my head, what I say is "Yes it's hard." because that is what they want to hear.
  • jomtois
    jomtois Posts: 22 Member
    Bump and thanks!
  • mazdauk
    mazdauk Posts: 1,380 Member
    Exactly. A million times I've said "I need to lose weight", "I'll try to lose weight", "I wish this garment fitted" (and most often "why are shops making their clothes smaller?:noway: )

    I decided I didn't want to be this size any longer. I'd made the decision. BUT being on here is the tool that makes me keep to it. I really didn't want to exercsie last night. But I'm going out to dinner tomorrow so I did. I could have just said"I'll have the night off" but we all know where that leads.....

    As Master Yoda says "No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try".
  • Timmmy40
    Timmmy40 Posts: 152 Member
    Great post. Thank you!!
  • PJmetts
    PJmetts Posts: 210 Member
    lol. what you described is exactly what making a decision is. sometimes it is hard. sometimes it is second nature.
    [/quote]

    Those Hard things....when you do them, they BECOME second nature. If theres one thing I fall back on time and again, in my 20 years in the Navy, it was the hardest times I was learning the most. Everytime I fall away from my goals here I remind my self "You are a mom, you are a 20 year Vet, YOU CAN DO ANYTHING" It's a decision and I needed to read this today, just to remind me - today - to stay in the moment.

    Thank you!
  • johloz
    johloz Posts: 176 Member
    I know there's already been a bunch of comments, but THANK YOU for sharing this. This is exactly what I have been trying to explain to a friend who has been waiting around for "motivation" to get fit. Perfect.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,492 Member
    2 comments from movies that always hit home.

    Yoda from "Empire Strikes Back"
    "Do or do not.............there is no try."


    Mr. Miyagi from "Karate Kid"
    "You karate do yes, you karate do no, you karate do guess so, squish like grape."

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • rdelsaz
    rdelsaz Posts: 15 Member
    I absolutely loved the post. I agree. Discipline and habits will take us a long way so long we make the decision of a healthy lifestyle. The benefits of a healthy lifestyle are visible to everyone, but the decision to lead our lives in a healthy manner is absolutely ours!
  • bcf7683
    bcf7683 Posts: 1,653 Member
    Love it.
    This is what I've been trying to tell people when they ask how I lost so much weight/gained muscle in the last year. It's not (mentally) hard... It's just being willing to do what you know you need to do and stop giving yourself excuses.
  • Lt_Starbuck
    Lt_Starbuck Posts: 576 Member
    As Master Yoda says "No! Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try".

    This is what makes Yoda- Yoda.

Categories