Are you looking
to take your fitness routines to the next level by making them a part of your
regular life and schedule? Very often a casual exercise routine will spark the
desire for regular sweating sessions. Nevertheless, desire alone can only take
you so far on your journey to greater health and fitness. It can be a daunting
task to make your fitness routine an important part of a regular schedule.
Conventional
logic is only helpful to a certain point. But becoming the kind of person who
skips out on lunch with the friends because it would mean sacrificing their
weight training is not as simple as it sounds.
You will
typically hear helpful trainers and even your own self-criticism telling you
it’s all about willpower. Others say that after you have continued your
training for a full 21 days; it is all downhill from there. Yeah right! Tell
yourself that 24 days later when it’s freezing outside and every inch of your
sore aching body is begging you to lie in bed, even just a few more minutes.
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Finding Motivation for Fitness Pursuits
The good news is
that this problem has been investigated by the medical, psychological and even
economical fields of research. Here are some of the strategies that the experts
have been coming up with that can encourage the individual to stick to their
habit despite reluctance:
1. Give Yourself a Real Treat
There are the
Olympian heroes and pantheon of fitness gods whose only motivation is rippling
pectorals, a sleek build, or even excellent health. But for the rest of us mere
mortals, Charles Duhigg outlines another approach in his book “The Power of
Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business”.
According to
Duhigg, tangible rewards and benefits will be far more effective motivators.
Treating yourself to a double chocolate cake or episode of your favorite TV
show can be a better motivator. Just be sure any tasty treats don’t offset your
progress as an athlete.
The extrinsic
reward is so effective because it give the mind a focal point on which to gain
traction and add validity to the efforts and push them through to completion.
The best way to do this, according to Charles Duhigg is by setting up a “habit
loop”. A proper habit loop will begin with a cue to trigger the desired
behavior (setting out your gym bag as a reminder), the action itself (complete
weight training at the gym) and finally the reward (Game of Thrones! Yay!) The
complete loop and commitment to it can make the routine a habit.
As more effort is
added in a routine manner, the motivation moves from being extrinsic to a more
intrinsic desire to complete the endorphin induced activity. Endorphins are
those feel-good drugs released into the body during an especially active
routine. Once you become “addicted to that rush” you won’t even need the reward
at the end.
2. Sign a Commitment Contract
We spend a good
portion of our lives making empty promises to ourselves. But according to
research, we are far more likely to keep these promises if we make them to our
friends or people whose esteem we highly value.
You can even take
this idea a step further and make the deal a little interesting. What if you
included a $20 payment for each time you skipped out on your commitment. It's a
simple notion of paying an agreed upon price over a certain amount of time.
Either the price will be paid in buckets of sweat and fruitful exertion or the
equal amount of cold hard cash. This way you know you have a commitment whether
paid to yourself in exertion, your friends in cash or in the chagrin of knowing
you have failed yourself and your friends. What fun!
There are even
sites that facilitate such arrangements. www.stickk.com is one such site, according to statistics held
by the site’s administration, those who set down long term goals in longer
contracts have been found to stick to their plans better and get more exercise
in the end. It is important to get past the initial stage that can be
especially uncomfortable to get to the part when long term goals are the
objective. This takes the focus of momentary discomfort and onto greater
rewards and dividends in the future.
3. Rethink Positive Thinking
Proponents of the
“sunny side of the street” suggest there is great power in visualizing the
rewards for your good/desirable behaviour. For example when you are sitting
down tired at the end of your work day and considering just skipping this
day's’ routine, consider how good you will if you head out anyway and get some
late afternoon glow on your cheeks and the fresh smell of the leaves and grass
in your lungs as you raise your heart rate. Even better, how awesome will you
feel when you get back and enjoy that glorious after burn?
After you imagine
the obstacle in your mind’s eye, you can invent whatever solution you need to
counter it. The thing to remember is that when you use these “fantasies” to
feel better and motivated you should always accompany them with realistic
solutions to your situation.
For example, if
you have identified your obstacle as being exhausted after the end of the day,
you can’t simply imagine some extra energy, but you can make extra energy an
option by moving your exercise routines to the morning or lunch hour as well as
getting better nutrition or high quality sleep at night.
4. Get Paid
Finally, there is
a trick that seems to work on everyone, getting paid. Money talks, and it can
be a good reminder to begin pursuing these goals. Research into techniques like
this have found them to be especially effective in keeping people motivated and
increased the rate of completion considerably.
What? Get paid to
work out? How? Those who lack billionaire dollar patronage can consider looking
at the Pact app. This community of users literally pays each other to stay in
shape and meet their goals. If you fail to meet your commitments you authorize
the app to discount a penalty. Goals that you reached earn you a cash prize
paid for by yourself and the pooled funds of others who failed to hit their
goals.
In conclusion —
No matter how you reach your goals, you will know you are there once the effort
itself is your reward. Once you have made hitting your goals a part of your
life you have gained a measure of self-control that will not be easily lost.
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