Hi and welcome back!
This week I thought I'd discuss the topic of motivation with you, especially as it has come up a lot during our sessions.
When I first became a personal trainer I thought it was my role to motivate people to eat healthily and exercise until my NLP trainer, Linda, told me that people have to motivate themselves; my role was to be motivational.
So my friends, how do you motivate yourselves?
Examine your needs
You joined FAT-SCRAP ultimately to reduce your weight/body fat levels viewing the task of doing this in a positive way and linking it to your need for food and exercise. We all need to eat and we all need to move but we all make different choices about what and how much we eat and move depending on how it makes us feel. Viewing the task of choosing to eat healthily and exercise as satisfying your needs to be healthy and fit will lead to you seeing yourself as a healthy and fit person. Connecting with the value and reward in your healthy choices and how you are satisfying your needs will allow you to take responsibility for your motivation through taking a different perspective and creating your own rewards.
Reward yourself
On the subject of rewards, yes we all want to see some reward for our efforts but should we wait for other factors like the number on the scales, the size of the dress, etc to reward us to feel motivated and then blame those things when perhaps they perhaps fail to meet our expectations? Or would we feel more motivated if we tuned into the rewards that we can give ourselves like a pat on the back when we are feeling pleased with the delicious healthy meal we have prepared; a smile in the mirror as we think about our achievements; the love we give oursleves each time we do something that is going to benefit us; the respect we give ourselves when we give our body what it deserves.
So using a combination of examing your needs and your need for reward is an effective way of motivating yourself.
Here are some other ideas for motivation..
- Keep focusing on the compelling reasons why you are doing what you are doing e.g reducing your blood pressure, preventing disease, becoming stronger...
- Keep focusing on the little things that you can achieve that will help you reach your long term goal
- Build in accountability by doing things like keeping food diaries and booking training sessions in your diary.
- Take control of your time by adding the value to it. Is eating healthily and exercising worth the cost (sacrifice of time spent doing something else) and worth the effort (making time to do it)?
- Think about the negative consequences of not being healthy of fit or being fatter.
- Look for the fun and enjoyment in your choices.
- Spend time with people who will support and encourage you.
- Use the FAT-SCRAP tools!!
Sue x
5 comments:
Hi everyone!
Sue, what a great subject this week and wow...you must have read my mind because I got totally back in touch with one of my main motivations today.
I had the pleasure and privelege of going to London today to join a try out day for a Dru Yoga teacher training course. I totally and completely loved it, every minute of it, it just ticked all the boxes for me and I have decided it is a course I really want to do. If anyone is interested in what Dru Yoga is and why I love it have a look at this website www.druworldwide.com/about_dru
So....back to motivation...those of you who know me will know how much I love yoga and my main motivation for joining Fat Scrap was that I wanted to be able to achieve more in my yoga practice. I am flexible but my size was holding me back in more than just a physical way..but in my self confidence too.
In the past I have believed, and have been led to believe by others, that I could never.. and should never.. be a yoga teacher as I was too fat. But now, hey, you know what? ..I think I can say that today I felt that I had a real right to be there. I looked like everyone else and I felt just as confident if not more confident than everyone else.
One of the first things we were taught today is that when we are moving into postures you should tell yourself 'I can do this'. It immediately gives you a sense of empowerment and achievement. And today I quietly thought about the possiblity of learning to teach and I thought...'Yeah, I CAN do this'.
I still have some hurdles to get over before I can start the course but I know that within myself - physically and mentally I have knocked down all those personal barriers which were holding me back till now.
This is all thanks to Fat Scrap and the empowerment it has given me. Watch out world, I'm ready to fly!!
Hi Apple..
Lovely to hear your comments today, thank you! You are a great example of how the need you felt to be slimmer to achieve greater satisfaction in your yoga practice has motivated you to achieve the results you have. As for rewards, well I know that at the start of your FAT-SCRAP journey your reward was feeling good for helping me by trialing FAT-SCRAP, then not long into your journey, you noticed other rewards like how much better you felt eating more healthy foods, how much stronger you became as you saw yourself achieving more at the training session and how much more belief you had in yourself as you overcame hurdles, supported others and saw your self-confidence grow. As I said before, it's tuning into these rewards that really matters and keeps the motivational fire burning.
Gratitude plays another important role here too..and again, Apple, because you went into this with no strong expectations and open to anything that came your way, you were truly greatfull for everything that did come your way! Because of this gratitude, you have attracted more of the same rewards. I'm sure now, Apple, you can see the meaning behind the phrases "You get back what you put in"; "What goes around comes around"; and "Like attracts like" ..and my favorite one "If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got"
Someone once told me that everytime I think I can't, should, might, ought..to do something, to then repeat the sentence with I can, I will..and notice how I feel as I say it and identify what it is that might be stopping me do it. This is a great way to understand how much you really want to do something or what the fear might be in doing it.
I wonder if one of the biggest hurdles for you in becoming a yoga instructor is the cost of your time and energy as well as the cost of the course. After all, you will have to make sacrifices in all these areas if you do commit to this. WHen we think about the costs then we are thinking about the value of our choices but deep down is it more that we are thinking about our value, our self worth? I think we all have a fear of investing in ourselves... The questions "Am I worth it?" "Do I deserve it?" spring to mind. What would it be like if we turn these questions around and ask "What is the worth in me being.... (a yoga instructor)?" "Would I love the person I see being....(a yoga instructor? "I deserve to be happy so would I be happy being a ...(yoga instructor)?" I beleive that when we think about our value and what we value, our decisions become easier.
Apple, the world sees you are already flying..now, how high do you want to fly?!!!
Love you x
Dear Sue and Apple, thank you both for the 'motivational' blog comments this week. Really needed!
I've not had a very good week. My youngest son very kindly passed on his sickness bug to me and it has knocked me for six. To be honest, I was feeling a bit low anyway so maybe that aided me in catching the bug?! I'm sure you can all identify with the feeling that you just want to shout "stop the bus, I want to get off!" Not one thing in particular to blame but an accumulation of lots of things that get you down. I am normally a positive person so these 'low' moments are very hard to accept. Sometimes, though you need to let yourself have a chance to recharge, take some time and reflect.
Good news is that today I am feeling more like my old self again. I have been so happy with the changes to my body and my energy levels since joining the Fat Scrap program so this little 'blip' was a surprise. Rather than beating myself up about it - which perhaps I would have done in the past - I have accepted it and am now ready to carry on with the positive steps to be motivated towards my goal of being stronger and fitter.
On the motivational point, I had the pleasure of watching a web presentation of the CEO of Tupperware - Rick Goings, recently. He gave a fanatastic hour and half talk but one thing in particular has stuck with me. He said, "we are where we are today because we choose to be . . . otherwise we would take the steps to change". This goes back to us taking responsiblity for our choices (I can hear Sue in my ear!) We all find change scary but I have been amazed how quickly I have seen the changes happen to my body shape, my attitude to food and exercise and my motivation to tackle other projects at home and work. We can all make the changes if we put our minds to it - if we want it enough. Just do it!!
Thank you again Sue for all your care and good advice. As for Apple - you go girl and sign me up for your first yoga lesson! I'm so pleased that you now see how wonderful you are.
Love to all, x
Hi Rainbow, I am thrilled to hear your positivity coming through in your post and hope that you are still holding on to it even today as I know you have had a few more "blips" coming your way. I know you are viewing this time as message for "time out", something a lot of our FAT-SCRAPPERS have had to do along their journeys. My NLP trainer, Linda says that we should listen to our letterbox rattling and look for the messages rather than wait for the letter to arrive.
I love the quote you have shared with us "we are where we are today because we choose to be . . . otherwise we would take the steps to change". And I would like to add to it with something I read today that approximately only 2% of people who lose weight keep off in the long term and that is usually because something powerful in their life has changed. When our role in life changes like our career or relationship or we change our beliefs about who we are or how are life works we are more likely to choose, want and make the steps to change.
This is why FAT-SCRAP encourages you to make the steps to change how you see yourself and how your life works so that you will lose weight and keep it off!
Rainbow, you have found your true colours, just keep being the person you want to be. x x
woops, sorry for the error before...should be "how OUR life works we are more likely to choose, want and make the steps to change."
Post a Comment