Motivation
This month’s blog is regarding motivation. I’m sure you’ve heard lots of people say they’re “motivated” to do something or motivated to stick at a plan or to work on their diet then within a few weeks, or even days it’s back to the same routine you had as before, which questions if they were even motivated from the start or just lured themselves into a false sense of potential achievement. Motivation is the fire in your belly that you want to achieve something and directly links into goal setting. We set ourselves goals because we are motivated to achieve a specific target within our lives. However, why don’t we always achieve these goals? I’m going to discuss some potential reasons that motivation can take over, reasons it hinders your progression and how correct long-term goal setting can ensure you stay motivated (hopefully for life) with specific tasks and goals.
What motivates us?
There are many factors that can motivate us;
- Family (partner, kids, parents)
- Peers (friends, other people the same age as you)
- Idol (someone you look up to within a specific field i.e., a strongman, a celebrity, a sportsperson etc)
- Yourself (personal goal, your job, your sport, your career i.e., military, police, fire-service etc)
The above are just some examples of what can motivate us and I’m sure you can think of some others. If you have other reasons to be motivated, then write them down – make a quick note as you read this section of the email on what motivates you.
Why motivation doesn’t always last
- Lack of results
- Unrealistic goal setting
- Illness or Injury
- Lack of support
- Lack of preparation
- Self-confidence
It is hard to stay motivated with specific goals or tasks if you’re not seeing or feeling the results. However good coaching, mentoring or leadership should always be reinforcing that if you stick with it and trust the process the results do happen. You might be motivated to lift heavier weights because you saw one of my other client’s lift a weight in 6 weeks but after 6 weeks you aren’t there…. that’s ok! It doesn’t matter if it takes you 8 or 10 or even 12 weeks. Everyone’s results happen at their own pace – that said, there is ways to stay motivated away from the above:
- Following a programme
- Getting help from a professional i.e., a personal trainer if you goal is health and fitness
Types of motivation
Intrinsic – something from within you. A reason you want to achieve something.
Extrinsic – something you actually get for achieving a goal i.e., a medal at the end of a run (tangible) or a specific time (intangible)
How to link motivation with goal setting
When setting goal’s, we need to follow the S.M.A.R.T. principle which is the basic term used which we learn in secondary school P.E:
S – Specific | M – Measurable| A – Achievable| R – Realistic| T – Time Bound
Overall, I’m trying to make you think of long-term goals and work backwards. When a new client comes to me for training and as a strength and conditioning coach I work backwards. I look at long-term and set specific short- and medium-term goals from this. Hopefully this all helps with motivation and goal setting – I’ve also attached (below) the table I’ve used for my 2022-23 goals which might help motivate you when it comes to your goal setting.
