How To Motivate Yourself To Change Your Habits

What decisions did you make today? Did it have to do with fitness? Maybe you decided to workout after work? Did you choose to pack a lunch or eat out? Did you take a moment to look at your to-do list? Guess what? Your day-to-day choices (big or small) WILL influence whether you maintain vitality as you age OR develop life-shortening illnesses and disabling conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. Motivation fuels new habits - the habits you long for and want to feel are easy to do on the daily. Here are 4 strategies to amp up your motivation to change your habits:

Learned Optimism vs. Helplessness

If I said I will pay you $1000 dollars to do 10 jumping jacks right now, you will probably choose to do so. However if I promise you $1000 dollars to contract the pupil of your eye, using only will power, you may choose to do it, but it doesn’t matter. You are helpless to contract your pupil. Jumping jacks are under your voluntary control: the muscles that change your pupillary size are not. Under learned helplessness, you can't change the situation and give up. Under learned optimism, while you may not always be able to change your situation, you can change how you respond to it. Instead of believing that one bad event will impact every other event, can you identify it as a single event?

The Magic of Five

Write down 5 things you are proud of. Stick the list in your wallet to pull out to remind yourself that you're awesome. Often the problem isn’t wanting to change, or even taking the first step. The hardest part is implementing a strategy to stay motivated once our initial decisions and actions are done. Take action to feel good about yourself TODAY, that is what will motivate you to change your habits.?

Set a Timer

Do you view time as an asset or a stressful interval? You can accomplish many tasks that fuel motivation in 5, 10 and 15 minute intervals. Once you set the timer, work on something that is only related to your health goal. Consistency is key and after doing this for 2 weeks you will become the master of your own time management. When you do, your chances for success go way up. You don’t need to be a serial multitasker.

Do Not Speak About The End Goal

Words shape your world and your motivation. For example, if your end goal is to lower your blood pressure, conversations should focus on the actions: I am going to show up at the gym 5 days a week, nothing more. The more focused you are on the regular routines you need to do to be successful, the more likely you are to stay motivated to stick with them.