The Ever Elusive Motivation

Motivation

It's very much a Woody Wonders as in 'hmmm' this week.

Today I ran Huddersfield 10K, it's a race I've run numerous times over the years.  It's truly horrendous in terms of the hills so what keeps me motivated to keep going back year after year.

This set off a whole chain of thought about motivation:

• What is it?  
• How do we get it?  
• How do we keep it?  
• Why does is wane from time to time?

I wish I had all the answers to these questions but sadly, I don't.  However, I will try and give you my own interpretation of the answers and what motivation means to me.

Motivation is a mental state of mind
Our bodies are perfectly capable of running, jumping, swimming etc but it's very much our mind that tells us we can or can't do something.  We're often motivated to start something but then struggle to follow it through.

Let's take New Year's resolutions as a prime example.  At the start of January we're often super motivated to make changes in our life but then come February / March time, our motivation has waned and although we still want to make these changes, our mind tells us we can't.  Why?  Simple.  We've become overwhelmed and we've realised that these changes are not going to happen overnight and that we might make mistakes and get knock-backs along the way.  Our mind tries to protect us and we say to ourselves "nope, I can't do that".

Get me motivated!
So how do we find this ever elusive motivation?  Let's focus on motivation from a fitness point of view.  You have to find your WHY.  I consider myself extremely lucky because I love the feeling of being healthy and, most of all, I love running.  It's my passion and although I do have bad days when I don't feel motivated to go out for a run, I focus on how I will feel afterwards and that's usually enough to get me out of the door.  My WHY is that it makes me feel strong and healthy and it's my mental refresh which has got me through some really dark times in my life.  Running is like a friend who's always got my back, no matter how I'm feeling and no matter what mood I'm in.

Now this approach might not work for other people.  In fact, I know plenty of people who exercise but don't actually love it.  If you're one of these people then you'll have a different WHY to mine.  What is that WHY that will get YOU out of the door?  I can't answer this for you ... YOU have to find that WHY.  Ultimately, find something that you like doing, you don't have to love it, but liking the actual exercise will certainly help.  Try a whole heap of different things.  Don't battle on with something just because you feel you ought to.  Take running as an example, I would never run round a track for hours on end or run on a treadmill as I find that mind numbingly boring but I love running out in the open countryside where I can enjoy the views.

Can I keep it?
Remember in a previous blog when I was talking about goals and breaking them down.  Well you need to approach motivation with the same attitude.  You have to take each day as it comes and you have to accept that you're not going to be motivated 100% all of the time.  No-one is, it's not sustainable and just not possible as our brains don't work like that. 

Don't think so far down the line that you can't even relate to the timeframe you've set yourself.  You have to take each day as it comes and once you set the ball rolling and make exercise a habit then it becomes a whole lot easier to deal with the days when you're not so motivated to pull on your trainers and go for a run in the rain.

Motivation is not an easy thing to deal with and like everything else in life, you have to work at it to see the results.

I hope this has helped you in some small way to find your own answers and your own WHY but ultimately, find something you enjoy and it will make finding and keeping that elusive motivation a whole lot easier.