Super-motivation: How to make things happen fast

Grace looked crestfallen ‘Sometimes I feel like I’ve elevated procrastination to a new art form’ she said.

‘This was supposed to be the big year for health and wellbeing and here we are, six months in, and I haven’t even made a start. Every night I promise myself tomorrow will be the day, but every day I let myself down again. For heaven’s sake, why can’t I just get motivated?’

We all do it, don’t we? Does any of this sound familiar?

‘I’ll start running….tomorrow.’

‘I’ll take up swimming again….soon.’

‘I’ll get back down the gym….when I have the time.’

There’s always a reason to put it off. There’s a project at work that’s taking all your time. The kids haven’t gone back to school yet or you haven’t got the subs for the gym.

Many of my clients make the mistake of thinking that exercise has to be painful to be helpful. They think they have to ‘go for the burn’. No pain no gain, right?

Wrong!

We are actually exercising all the time we are moving; when we walk upstairs at the office instead of taking the lift; when we run for the bus; when we walk round the shops, do the gardening or push a hoover round the house. If you start to think of exercise as everyday activity, it just becomes part of a lifestyle that embraces movement as something normal, natural and healthy.

So, instead of being a couch potato, why not get your TV fix standing up, walking or running on the spot. Instead of taking your phone calls sitting down, stand and move around while you’re talking. The person you’re talking to won’t even know they are part of your exercise plan!

You can burn hundreds of extra calories a day just by moving more. You can turn fat into muscle by stretching, bending and lifting whenever and wherever you can.

This is the starting point. Once you get going you might find you are motivated to raise the bar higher and take even more dramatic action. Energy breeds energy and getting the rock moving is always the hardest part. After that it’s carried along by its own momentum.

Here are some super simple tips to get things going.

Try this

  Put off procrastination. Don’t think too long about it or you either won’t do it or you’ll talk yourself out of it. If you’ve decided 6pm is gym time, get it in your diary. Make an appointment with yourself for yourself. This is something you are doing because you are special and you deserve it. Think of it as your time.

What you focus on is what you get, so focus on how good you’ll feel when you’re really in shape, feeling and looking good or try thinking about the alternative. If you’re looking for motivation, how about imagining two paths.

Along one path, you have let yourself go. You over ate, over drank and slobbed around on the sofa every evening. As you look into the future, what does that person look like? How do they move, dress and feel about their body?

Along the second path, there is the version of you where you took the time to really look after that body. You ate a healthy, well balanced diet, enjoyed moving, walking and just being active. As you look into that future, how do you feel?

The great news is you can make a start right away. You have a choice right here, right now.

Chunk it down

If you think about the long term goal, it might feel too overwhelming. Losing three stone or turning that flabby stomach into an enviable six-pack might just seem too much or too hard.

But nobody ever climbed a mountain in one leap. You have to break the task down into manageable goals and bite sized chunks. Decide what can you do immediately to start to take you towards that long term objective?

  Focus on a better body

Keep a list of all the proven benefits of moving and exercising, such as:

• Better quality sleep
• A clearer complexion
• Younger appearance
• A slimmer, more toned body
• Raised libido
• Better digestion
• Improved heart and lung function
• A raised metabolic rate which helps you continue to burn more calories even when resting

Focus on a healthy mind

• A brighter you: exercise makes you smarter, improves memory and all mental functions as more oxygen is sent to the brain. Water and nutrients through good diet will nourish and support all those important brain cells.
• A less stressed you: people who are fit and exercise regularly have a lower resting heart rate. When the pressure builds, fitter people cope better.
• A more confident you: being active and looking after yourself will send feel good hormones racing around the body. They will settle in the brain as raised confidence, self respect and esteem. Others will notice.
• A happier you: one of the key benefits of being active, is the boost you get from raised serotonin. This happiness hormone is produced as a natural by-product of exercise and has been found to lift depression better than medication. 

Be your own coach

All the best athletes use visualisation for enhanced performance and to help them meet their professional goals so try this technique:

Imagine you are watching TV. The programme you tune in to might be called something like ‘My best self.’

In this show, you watch yourself as you walk, run, move with ease. You watch yourself living the active life you know will be great for your body and mind, then fast forward through several episodes where you are getting fitter, healthier, slimmer and more attractive. 

Play this internal DVD every day. After a while, this new film will replace those old negative or unhelpful mind movies.

  Set SMART goals

It really helps with motivation when you firm up your target. If you want to get fit, identify what that would look like. What would you be doing that you’re not doing now?

Ask your self what do you want? Why do you want it? What will it look like when you’ve got it? How will that feel? SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed. So, get focused and get going. No more excuses.

That’s exactly what Grace did with just a little help from me and wow, you should see her now…

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