How do you begin, and continue full speed without ‘giving up’?

My_Butt
My_Butt Posts: 2,311 Member
in Motivation and Support
I want to hear your ways.
I have been unmotivated after taking off 3 months with a broken hand, and I just can’t seem to stimulate the motivation within to get back into a routine.
I even work at a gym, but that doesn’t even clue me in to get moving.
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Answers

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,975 Member
    Does it need to be 'full speed'? How about just taking baby steps? For example: a 15 min workout 2 it 3 times per week, increasing your daily step count...
    You can be more active without needing to 'go to the gym' too. Plenty of people here who don't like to go to the gym and yet are very active!

    So just find something you like and pick a small goal that you can build on?
  • My_Butt
    My_Butt Posts: 2,311 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Does it need to be 'full speed'? How about just taking baby steps? For example: a 15 min workout 2 it 3 times per week, increasing your daily step count...
    You can be more active without needing to 'go to the gym' too. Plenty of people here who don't like to go to the gym and yet are very active!

    So just find something you like and pick a small goal that you can build on?

    You are very correct!
    My mindset of ‘all or nothing’ is setting me up to feel like a failure when things don’t go as planned.
    One day at a time, one step at a time.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,204 Member
    My_Butt wrote: »
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Does it need to be 'full speed'? How about just taking baby steps? For example: a 15 min workout 2 it 3 times per week, increasing your daily step count...
    You can be more active without needing to 'go to the gym' too. Plenty of people here who don't like to go to the gym and yet are very active!

    So just find something you like and pick a small goal that you can build on?

    You are very correct!
    My mindset of ‘all or nothing’ is setting me up to feel like a failure when things don’t go as planned.
    One day at a time, one step at a time.

    Yes, this.

    I'm a huge believer in the easiest plan that would get me to my goals, because I'm more likely to stick with it, and more likely to be able to make those things into long-term habits, rather than frantic but temporary "projects".

    For either weight loss or fitness improvement, generally a moderate and progressive approach will get me to goal in less calendar time than some theoretically "better" but very aggressive (maybe unpleasant) plan that triggers slips, procrastination, breaks in the action, or even giving up altogether.

    When things don't go as planned, that can be treated as a learning experience and a trigger to improve the plan, rather than as some kind of personal failure. That's a different mindset. Finding and using the right personalized plan is a key success factor, IMO.

    Best wishes!
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 12,856 Member
    I often tell people that motivation gets you started in something, while discipline keeps you going. This is in response to people who complain that their initial surge of motivation is slipping, and it's harder to justify internally the discomfort and effort required to keep going.

    In your case, you describe the motivation as completely absent, but from your words I detect a person who can commit to a plan and all the intricate steps inside, you just lack the kick in the seat of the pants to get started. Well, let's skip that kick and instead do a "fake it til you make it" approach.

    Schedule your workouts as if they are a mandatory meeting you cannot avoid, a job you must report for duty. This meeting is with yourself and the job pays no money you can hold, only a currency in the form of establishing momentum of doing instead of just wishing. Use that "all or nothing" personality to commit to attending ALL of your meetings during the week, especially the ones which are you and a short workout. Don't just wait for a convenient time to arrive and try to convince yourself to go; put on a calendar, alerts in your phone, you HAVE to go AT THIS TIME.

    I wager after you successfully arrive on time and attend a handful of these self-meetings, you will start to feel the fire inside again to keep it going.
  • PReed115
    PReed115 Posts: 2 Member
    Baby steps. Increase your step count. Try to incorporate healthier foods into your diet. One day at a time.
  • SBurnham25
    SBurnham25 Posts: 5 Member
    I have been a runner for many years. I have completed 3 marathons. Here's what I have learned along my 24 year journey.

    Motivation ebbs and flows. Not every workout is going to feel fantastic. A very wise person told me that it's not how great you do when you are motivated. It's that when you are not motivated you try anyway. It might feel horrible, and it might not be the greatest workout. But it's one of the most important ones because you did something you didn't want to or thought you couldn't do. You tried.

    You can't run at full speed every time you run. You have to find a formula of different workouts to ensure you don't overtrain and injure yourself. I think this is true for anything in life. Dieting, exercise, work-life. You have to find a formula that keeps you going while keeping a balance between full speed and rest. Every runner will bonk at some point if they endlessly continue at full speed. Rest and recovery are just as important as the faster paces of race day.

    Give yourself room to forgive yourself. If you try and it doesn't work out exactly as you planned, well, at least you tried. That's more than if you hadn't tried at all. Stops and starts are part of being human. It's that you start again and again when things don't work out that is important.

    Failure doesn't define you. It refines you.
  • robertw486
    robertw486 Posts: 2,457 Member
    My_Butt wrote: »
    Lietchi wrote: »
    Does it need to be 'full speed'? How about just taking baby steps? For example: a 15 min workout 2 it 3 times per week, increasing your daily step count...
    You can be more active without needing to 'go to the gym' too. Plenty of people here who don't like to go to the gym and yet are very active!

    So just find something you like and pick a small goal that you can build on?

    You are very correct!
    My mindset of ‘all or nothing’ is setting me up to feel like a failure when things don’t go as planned.
    One day at a time, one step at a time.

    I think for most people there is a fine line to be found. I know for me personally "all or nothing" can be just as destructive if I set unreasonable goals. And to some extent, if I spend too much time on any activity it just no longer seems to be as much fun, and becomes more like work.

    As a note on work, since you work in a gym this might be even more the case. Finding workouts you enjoy that take place out of the gym might bring more enjoyment back into the picture.

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