Picture of a T-shirt from Hatley Little Blue House Store in Whistler Village
Step 1: Think about an area of your life that you are in need of motivation. There may be several, but start small and maybe pick the most important one.
Step 2: Surround yourself by people who are good at motivating in your particular area of interest. If you personally know someone that is great! If not, the wonderful thing about the internet is that there are tons of great motivators online. Find websites, blogs, or even magazines with a major focus on the area you want to improve in your life. Pay attention to how you feel when reading the material. The goal is to be uplifted, helping encourage you to rise to the challenge, not to make you feel bad about yourself. If the images or information are bringing you down, move on to a new source. Find one that is a good match for YOU.
Step 3: Keep reading, keep listening. Even if for the moment you do not feel ready, hence the need for motivation, the information will stay on your mind, and over time will hopefully become so inspirational that you will be moved to action. In many cases don’t expect it to happen overnight, but remember thoughts are powerful and you are what you think about! Use this to your advantage and think about your challenge in a positive light.
Step 4: Take action. Make the jump, take the risk, and let all your motivational sources help fuel you.
An example from my own life-
For a while now I have wanted to get in better shape. I’m pretty active with my children and all that entails, but I don’t consider myself to be in good shape. The kind where you feel really strong, good about yourself and energized. I do a lot of lifting of kids, toys, and stuff but I want my whole body to feel strong from my calves, to my back, shoulders and neck. I’ve had enough of feeling tired from all the night-time wakeups. I may not be able to control those, but I can increase my energy from the being more active standpoint. My youngest is a year and a half now and I’m ready to reclaim my body.
Pre having children, my husband and I use to work out together. I loved this, and miss it a lot. He was my coach and assisted me with strength training and has the ability to push me harder when doing cardio next to him. If one of us wasn’t feeling motivated to work out, we could lean on the other to get us started. It is wonderful to have that relationship.
Now that we have kids this isn’t an easy option. For now it makes a lot of sense for my husband to watch the kids while I get moving. He has moved on to lunch break workouts, often with coworkers who motivate him, and I’ve seriously lacked in the motivation I need. After recognizing this and identifying it (step 1), I started to particularly look forward to reading my favorite blogs with a big focus on fitness (step 2).
A few of my favorite fitness related blogs:
Chad and Tammy Adventures – my fitness superstar heroes – they recently partook in the Australian Ironman.
Fit to Wed – Katie, who recently got married (Congrats!! J), has a love for running and yoga. She is always so inspiring to me.
Healthy Laps – Jen also has a love for running, and she is a great cook. Her recipes continuously look amazing, and she really inspires me in the kitchen, especially when it comes to trying new things.
Carrots-n-Cake – Tina documents her exercise and food intake, as well as her life. She is so open and such an inspirational person. Right now she is in the midst of Lose the Dough for the Big 3-0 for her 30th birthday, which is right around the corner.
I finally realized that I need to get out of the house and be in the presence of other people to help push me to my fitness goals. After looking through classes and gyms, I decided on starting things off with joining a fitness boot camp for the month of June. It may sound silly, but I’m actually SCARED!! Biting my nails scared, and that is not a habit I usually have. Something about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone feels exciting though, and my husband deserves credit for being the final push to say “just sign up for it!” We may not be able to exercise together anymore, but he still knows how to get my butt in gear. The words boot and camp scare me, and I’m especially nervous about the drills. Drills immediately bring me back to some of the drills I did playing sports as a kid. There were times I was on the verge of vomiting...so it scares me a lot!
I was actually so nervous that I thought about not writing about it on my blog. Then I realized that is not the point of my blog. It is about being open and sharing personal growth, successes and setbacks. So there you have it, now I’m accountable to all of you for following through with my words. If I’m back tomorrow, then you’ll know I survivedJ!
Wish me luck; I think I’m going to need it! Ahhhh :-O
Do you have any favorite motivational websites you would like to share?
Step 2: Surround yourself by people who are good at motivating in your particular area of interest. If you personally know someone that is great! If not, the wonderful thing about the internet is that there are tons of great motivators online. Find websites, blogs, or even magazines with a major focus on the area you want to improve in your life. Pay attention to how you feel when reading the material. The goal is to be uplifted, helping encourage you to rise to the challenge, not to make you feel bad about yourself. If the images or information are bringing you down, move on to a new source. Find one that is a good match for YOU.
Step 3: Keep reading, keep listening. Even if for the moment you do not feel ready, hence the need for motivation, the information will stay on your mind, and over time will hopefully become so inspirational that you will be moved to action. In many cases don’t expect it to happen overnight, but remember thoughts are powerful and you are what you think about! Use this to your advantage and think about your challenge in a positive light.
Step 4: Take action. Make the jump, take the risk, and let all your motivational sources help fuel you.
An example from my own life-
For a while now I have wanted to get in better shape. I’m pretty active with my children and all that entails, but I don’t consider myself to be in good shape. The kind where you feel really strong, good about yourself and energized. I do a lot of lifting of kids, toys, and stuff but I want my whole body to feel strong from my calves, to my back, shoulders and neck. I’ve had enough of feeling tired from all the night-time wakeups. I may not be able to control those, but I can increase my energy from the being more active standpoint. My youngest is a year and a half now and I’m ready to reclaim my body.
Pre having children, my husband and I use to work out together. I loved this, and miss it a lot. He was my coach and assisted me with strength training and has the ability to push me harder when doing cardio next to him. If one of us wasn’t feeling motivated to work out, we could lean on the other to get us started. It is wonderful to have that relationship.
Now that we have kids this isn’t an easy option. For now it makes a lot of sense for my husband to watch the kids while I get moving. He has moved on to lunch break workouts, often with coworkers who motivate him, and I’ve seriously lacked in the motivation I need. After recognizing this and identifying it (step 1), I started to particularly look forward to reading my favorite blogs with a big focus on fitness (step 2).
A few of my favorite fitness related blogs:
Chad and Tammy Adventures – my fitness superstar heroes – they recently partook in the Australian Ironman.
Fit to Wed – Katie, who recently got married (Congrats!! J), has a love for running and yoga. She is always so inspiring to me.
Healthy Laps – Jen also has a love for running, and she is a great cook. Her recipes continuously look amazing, and she really inspires me in the kitchen, especially when it comes to trying new things.
Carrots-n-Cake – Tina documents her exercise and food intake, as well as her life. She is so open and such an inspirational person. Right now she is in the midst of Lose the Dough for the Big 3-0 for her 30th birthday, which is right around the corner.
I finally realized that I need to get out of the house and be in the presence of other people to help push me to my fitness goals. After looking through classes and gyms, I decided on starting things off with joining a fitness boot camp for the month of June. It may sound silly, but I’m actually SCARED!! Biting my nails scared, and that is not a habit I usually have. Something about pushing myself outside of my comfort zone feels exciting though, and my husband deserves credit for being the final push to say “just sign up for it!” We may not be able to exercise together anymore, but he still knows how to get my butt in gear. The words boot and camp scare me, and I’m especially nervous about the drills. Drills immediately bring me back to some of the drills I did playing sports as a kid. There were times I was on the verge of vomiting...so it scares me a lot!
I was actually so nervous that I thought about not writing about it on my blog. Then I realized that is not the point of my blog. It is about being open and sharing personal growth, successes and setbacks. So there you have it, now I’m accountable to all of you for following through with my words. If I’m back tomorrow, then you’ll know I survivedJ!
Wish me luck; I think I’m going to need it! Ahhhh :-O
Do you have any favorite motivational websites you would like to share?
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