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Motivation Mojo

March 28, 2006 Print This ArticleShare

Author: Marie Taylor

Everybody talks about it but not many people have it. It’s that mysterious energy that gets you out of bed an hour earlier each morning to workout, or that push in the early evening that turns the steering wheel from home to the gym. We call it motivation but it answers to many other names – drive, desire, ambition, need.

Motivation is slippery thing. It rears its head on January 1 when we make our New Year’s resolution; when we look in the mirror and don’t like what we see; when we get short of breath climbing stairs; when we see others performing as we would like to. We all get motivated – for a while. The question is how to keep on keeping on!

The word motivation comes from the Latin, movere, ‘to move’ and I think the key to understanding motivation is to understand habits. A habit is the status quo, the comfortable, the ordinary, the rut. It’s the place we all inhabit and most of the time it serves us well.

We make a habit of brushing our teeth before bed, of organizing our desks in a certain way, of working to a schedule, taking a familiar route home from work, or putting on the right shoe before the left one. Habit is unconscious behavior. It requires no thought, uses little energy; it is our automatic pilot through life.

To see how a habit works move your waste basket from its normal place to the other side of the desk. It will probably be several days of catching yourself before the waste basket’s new location becomes unconscious again.

Habit is the path of least resistance. That is why it is so hard to change – our minds or our bodies. In fact, the only thing that can change a habit is conscious energy, conscious thought and conscious choice. When we are ‘breaking’ a habit we encounter resistance. The comfortable ‘old way’ calls to us. It is so much easier not to change, to go with the flow of past behavior.

So what does all this have to do with working out? Our goal with the HyperStrike program may be weight loss, fitness or performance. We sign up, get our workout program, plan our schedule and begin. It isn’t long before resistance sets in – resistance to changing our habits. Suddenly, all sorts of other priorities claim our attention. Our goal of working out four times a week slips to three, then two, then … back to the old way of life.

We all know our motivation to workout will falter. We all know our initial desire will cool. Knowing this, what can we do to keep our motivation mojo energized? Here are some suggestions:

1. Set obtainable goals:
Nothing is more discouraging than setting goals that are too hard or too high. Break that big goal down into smaller steps that are easier to meet. Then celebrate each time you reach one.

2. Focus on the process:

View your workout as an end in itself. Yes, you have a larger goal in mind, but be present in this moment, in this day’s program and enjoy that first. Congratulate yourself every single time you fulfill your commitment to workout.


3. Prepare for temptation:

Admit that you may sometimes be tempted to skip your workout and be ready with good answers. Bribe yourself with a later treat, listen to a motivational tape, put on some funky music or imagine how great you’ll feel to overcome this temptation.


4. Schedule your workout:

This means actually blocking out – in ink! – your workout times on your Daytimer, Blackberry or organizer. Make a commitment to your workout time with the same seriousness as you schedule a business appointment.


5. Work out with a partner:

This is the real winner because it makes you accountable. If you don’t show up for your workout you not only disappoint yourself but your partner. With HyperStrike, your partner can be at the gym, across town or across the country.


Finally, don’t be so hard on yourself. Yes, you want to lose weight, get fit or perform better, but don’t put yourself down with a lot of negative self-talk when you occasionally slip up. After all, we’re only human. When you do miss a session, examine why it happened, look at the temptation and be ready for that resistance the next time it rears its head.

Meanwhile, keep that mojo workin’!

If you have a favorite way to jump start your motivation mojo, let us know and we’ll share it with other HyperStrike members. Email them here

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