Hi guys, Justin from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo. Today we are looking at what it takes to remain motivated on the journey to success. Staying motivated is a hard thing to do. Once you have lost your motivation, finding it again can be tough. The best option when approaching any goal is to build the small steps into a habit. A habit does not depend on motivation, thus is not nearly as huge a factor. Formed habits make it much easier to continue onward and achieve your goals. So how do you stay motivated during the limbo on the way towards building the habit? This blog will explore some different ways to keep your head in the game and keep you on track. If you have any questions or need some outside motivation, give us a call 806-322-3188.
The first and best way to stay motivated is to set small manageable goals. These goals need to be short-term and easily measured so that we can continue to see results. When we allow ourselves to get overwhelmed with our big picture goals we fail to see the small steps that we are taking. Wnat to lose 50 pounds? That could take up to 6 months. What are some little body wins you’ve experienced during that time? In the end, it’s the small steps that get us to our goals.
During my weight loss I had a hard time keeping my eyes on the small goals. Every day there were new achievements being reached, but I was set on shedding the pounds. It didn’t take me very long to realize that if I was going to sustain my lifestyle change and really change my life, I was going to take off the blinders and see the progress I was making in other areas as well. In all actuality, getting your workout in every day is an achievement. Every rep we make, (every move we make), and every step we take we get a little bit further from who we once were and little closer to who we want to be. Examples of some these small goals we can set would include things like: increasing your weight even by half a pound on individual lifts, walking an extra .02 miles from last week, or drinking one more bottle of water during the day. This will make us just a little bit better than we were before. This is why each week the personal trainers in Amarillo’s Custom Fitness studio deliver new progressions to the clients. The new progressions are not just to make things harder, but because our bodies get stronger and can work longer. We need to constantly challenge ourselves in order achieve our lofty ambitions.
The next way to stay motivated is by daily reminders of why we started in the first place. When I started losing weight and getting in shape I was doing it so that I could play with my kids at the park without getting out of breath and embarrassingly sweaty. We’ve all been there, sweat dripping off your nose while you wheeze and the kids running like there is no tomorrow. Ugh! Your goals may be something entirely different, but no matter what the reason for starting your journey always keep in mind the first reason you did. We would all like to live longer and be healthier while alive so that could be a motivating factor right there. I previously worked at a nursing home and saw directly how not taking care of your body can trap your mind inside a useless lump of flesh. Imagine being fully cognizant, but still needing help to go to the bathroom because you didn’t take care of yourself early in life. This doesn’t mean you need to look like a bodybuilder or fitness model in order to stave off these diseases, but some sort of activity and healthy lifestyle will help. No matter what your original catalyst is,constantly remind yourself of it. Put pictures of that wedding dress on your mirror, put that picture of your grandma in front of the refrigerator handle, put your next vacation spot on the dashboard of your car. What helped me was carrying a picture of my children around in my wallet and reminding myself to be around for them.Reminders help keep our goals in the forefront of our minds.
Another way of staying motivated is to make your goals public. once you put it on Facebook or tell your coworkers what your goals are you know you now have people looking at you to either fail or succeed. I have always fueled myself off others expectations of failure and find it even more satisfying when I not only reach my goals but exceed them. When I started working out I had no intentions of becoming a trainer and honestly thought I never would be taken seriously if I was. By the end of my weight-loss journey, however, I had a confidence and drive that I had never had before. I had to share this new me with the world and tell people they could have these results too. I started by telling all my co-workers I’m going to the gym and jokingly asked who was coming with me. As many of you already know once you say you’re going to do something many people are skeptical of your ability. They have failed themselves one too many times before and don’t believe that anyone can do it. Prove them wrong. Show them how strong you are inside and out.
So while these are only a few of ways to stay motivated, our personal training team at Custom Fitness has plenty of other ways to keep you going. We will track your progress, we will help you break up the goals into manageable sizes, we will provide you with support (you are not in this alone), and last but not least we will reward you. Whatever your goals are, whatever you’re trying to do, we want to help. Let the Amarillo personal trainers at Custom Fitness be your accountability partner. If you would like to begin a new lease on life, give us a call and our trainers will set up a consultation: 806-322-3188. Custom Fitness also offers nutrition counseling, group fitness classes, challenge programs, and of course, customized workouts. Sound good? We look forward to welcoming you to our family.