Grab a friend or find another person just like you at the gym to keep you accountable. Nothing beats a text message from your training buddy telling you to get your butt into the gym…Everyone hit’s a point where they start to lose motivation, even that girl you follow on instagram who always looks so excited about fitness, chicken and broccoli and their latest supplement. Or maybe you follow that guy who is always posting his workout videos and seems so ready to crush every day – yeah even he can lose it too.
We get this idea that motivation should be within us all the time from the people we think should be motivating us. Let’s be honest, that person is probably posting that inspirational photo from their couch in their underwear.
You see, motivation is fleeting. You can be so sure that this is the time to make the biggest changes in your life, and by 3pm you’ve lost it already.
That’s perfectly normal, because everyone else does that too!
When that rush of motivation has hit you, how can you ensure that you stay on track?
These are 5 actions you need to take to stay motivated.
REMEMBER HOW IT FEELS
That feeling you have right at this moment is the culmination of your motivation. You can see yourself at the end already, you’ve even planned what it takes to get there and this time you are going to do it. This is you picturing what life could be like when you’ve hit your goal, this is important!
Write it down! When you have a day that you aren’t feeling as charged, taking a look back and reminding yourself of why you need to do this will help you step into the gym to do what it takes for that day. Keep it super simple – WHAT you want, WHY you want it, and HOW does it make you feel.
GET A COACH
You know what you need to do. Do the gym work, and eat better food… It’s actually no more complicated than that. The reason so many people fail to hit their original goals is they don’t have a mentor to guide them and pick them up when they are down. Your coach will give you the real deal, they will keep an eye on your goal even when you think there’s no way you can get there. The best thing about a good coach is that they understand – they know that it’s hard, that it takes effort and that being busy can get in the way.
You will be told things you don’t want to hear, but you will be guided through to your goals. Your only job is to stick with them and know that they will get you there if you put the work in.
GET INSPIRED BY REAL PEOPLE
When you follow fitness models and top athletes on social media, you get a snapshot of their life. You don’t see or hear about the trials and moments in their lives. The problem is that how can you relate to these people when all you see is them constantly working out, posing and meal prepping. Real people are finding ways to fit their training and food into their everyday lives. They deal with the struggles of social occasions, holidays and impromptu visits from relatives. They eat too much pizza or drink a whole bottle of red and find it hard to get back on track afterwards.
Read what other people have done who are just like you. Why would you seek inspiration off a professional fitness model if you are a busy professional with 2 kids?
DON’T GO IT ALONE
You’ve got a mentor, written down what you want, and you are inspired by real people. Now get someone to be at your side throughout the process. Quite often it’s the people closest to us that sabotage our efforts. They hate seeing us have those low days, and would rather make us happy so instead of keeping us on track for our long term goal – they let us give in to the short term temptation.
Tell the people around you what you are doing and ask them for help getting there. Explain that you will have low days along the way and you need them to help pull you out and keep you moving. Even better, grab a friend or find another person just like you at the gym to keep you accountable. Nothing beats a text message from your training buddy telling you to get your butt into the gym.
IT WILL EBB AND FLOW
Remember that above all, this surge of motivation will not last. You WILL struggle, whether it’s today, tomorrow or a week from now. If you can accept that this will happen and sometimes you won’t beat it, you will have more success getting back on track. It will come back, but it’s never a constant stream of inspiration.
When these moments hit you, stay on track because it will pass eventually. In the meantime, read your WHAT, WHY and HOW, and remind yourself of this journey you started.