Episode 16 – Secrets to keeping motivated for the long term
I love seeing transformation photos on the internet! Don’t you?!
Every day, you’ll be able to see an inspirational post or video on social media that will inspire you to get up and change your life. However, without the proper motivational strategies in place, that drive will disappear and leave you to fall back into old habits. Read on to find out the secrets to keeping motivated for the long term!
1. Know yourself
Know yourself first then set out to grow and expand from there.
What to do:
Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Understand these attributes to make yourself a better person. They facilitate growth and evolution as a person. They also create progress. Progress creates momentum. Momentum creates motivation for the long term.
You may choose either approach below depending on your goal:
- Focus on your further strengthening your strengths – specialization or depth of experience is valuable for confidence. Confidence further snowballs confidence and after you have hit your “action threshold” you will unlock your ability to do more and for longer – because you believe you can.
- Focus on your weakness – make yourself well rounded. For example, if your weaknesses include nutrition then look to understand and evolve in the study of nutrition. Focus on how to shop, how to cook, how to meal prep, understand the nutritional value of foods. Go deep on the topic to round out your weaknesses.
2. Reflect on your performance
Track your progress. After you’ve done the activity, journal your performance and write down how your activity went. This will give you a managerial view of your life and will allow you to evaluate your overall performance during the week.
What to do:
- For the gym: write down your sets, your reps, what weight you did, and even your recovery time. Are you improving in certain aspects? Are you stuck and staying the same?
- For nutrition: record your diet history, what foods you eat, and similarly evaluate how you did. Are you consistently improving your food choices? Are there nutrition habits you’re stuck on?
For three (3) more secrets to keeping motivated, read on below.
3. Get Yourself a Buddy
It’s relatively easy to fall into a slump or find reasons to take cheat days – sleep in instead of getting up early in the morning, or if you’re tired after work, skip training, etc.
What to do:
Find a friend who’s on a similar health and fitness journey. Together you’ll keep motivated for the long term.
A buddy be able to:
- Hold you accountable
- Be your support system
- Discuss setbacks
- Keep pushing you to be your best when you need it.
4. Join an Active Community
Join like-minded individuals and become a part of an active community. This will do wonders for the development of good habits and also be a source of real-life inspiration and motivation. These groups are also a great source of support and advice. People in this community can give you strategies and tips to get over trouble spots and pull you up to a new level. There may also be people who are a little bit behind you, who might benefit from your life experience. Challenge yourself and contribute freely to a positive environment.
What to do:
- Find communities online.
- Join real-life sports groups that match your interests.
- Build an active community.
5. Remember your Why
At the end of the day, you’ve got to remember why you’re doing it, and where you’re ultimately headed. If you continually remind yourself of this “x-factor” you’ll stay motivated for the long term.
Get it!
The secrets to keeping motivated for the long term is to know yourself, assess yourself and reflect on your performance, get a buddy and be part of an active community – and of course, remember your why. Go get it!
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Need extra help?
- My PURITY Protocol is an amazing resource packed with 6 secrets to detox your life and supercharge your energy. It’s my personal wellbeing philosophy and has a special mindset section on “Thoughts management.” Check it out here.
- The First Five Fitness program is a complete 35 day guide to nutrition, mindset, and fitness for beginners and intermediates AND it only takes five minutes blocks to start. Click here for details.
- Don’t know what or how to cook and prepare food?! Check out My Meals & Recipes book here. It’s packed with loads of practical, healthy and simple to make breakfast, lunch, dinner options as well as snacks and drinks.
- Want live coaching? Click here to contact me. I look forward to working with you soon.
Feel free to watch the video
Bibliography
- Aurelius, M. (1964) Marcus Aurelius: Meditations (Translated by Staniforth, M.). Penguin Books
- Boulmetis, J. Dutwin, J. (2011) The ABCs of Evaluation: Timeless techniques for program and project managers (3rd Ed.) Jossey-Bass.
- Cosgrove, F. (2007) Coach Yourself to Wellness: Living the Intentional Life. Messenger Publishing.
- Duhigg, C. (2012) The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do in life and business. Random House
- Emoto, M. (2007) The Shape of Love: Discovering who we are, Where we came from and where we’re going. Doubleday
- Hill, N. (2008) The law of success – Complete. BN Publishing
- Levitin, D. (2014) The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload. Plume Printing
- Maxwell, J. (2012) The 15 invaluable laws of growth: Live them and reach your potential. Center Street
- McKeown, G. (2014) Essentialism: The disciplined pursuit of less. Crown Business.
- O’Connor, J. Seymour, J. (1990) Introducing NLP: Psychological skills for understanding and influencing people. Thorsons
- Pirsig, R. (1999) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An inquiry into Values. Harpertorch
- Seneca (1997) On the Shortness of Life (Translated by Costa, C.D.N.). Penguin Books
Videos:
- Dan Pink: The Puzzle of Motivation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrkrvAUbU9Y Accessed: 24 Jan 2016.
- Dan Pink – Drive: The Surprising truth about what motivates us. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mG-hhWL_ug Accessed: 24 Jan 2016.
- Robert Greene: “Mastery” | Talks at Google https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4v_34RRCeE Accessed: 24 Jan 2016.
- Why we do what we do. Tony Robbins. TED Talks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpc-t-Uwv1I Accessed: 24 Jan 2016.
Chris Everingham lives and breathes health & fitness.
Hi, I’m Chris Everingham.
I’m sharing the holistic performance secrets that I both personally used to overcome racial scrutiny, escape poverty and depression, AND taught others so that they too could bring proven success and happiness into their lives.
Learn more about my time competing in international sports, in front of media and speaking with live audiences of thousands of people to discover my high performance secrets. Click here to grow your mindset, rewire your habits and transform your life.
