So we're into May, and at this point we can expect the weather to improve greatly. The bright mornings encourage us to get up and get going - or do they?
How is your motivation to get up and get moving getting along?
This month use the good energy to get moving. The best way to motivate yourself is to get motivated by taking action in small steps and distract yourself from the fact that it counts towards the bigger goal. What do I mean by this? Well here's an example:
Mary wanted to set a goal for herself that she'd drop a dress size within the summer months so she'd look great on holidays. The goal was to go from a size 16 to a size 14 or 12...ideally a 12. She knew if she thought about the end result she'd then start thinking about the effort required to get there,and that wasn't going to help or motivate! So instead she broke this goal into smaller steps and focused on the fun aspect of learning something new phsyically.
Step 1 - based around WEEK 1, she focused on enjoying some fresh air and getting time out of the house walking. She also wrote down any thoughts that held her back from doing this in a journal as a way of by-passing her own potential negative self talk that might hold her back.
Step 2 - Based around WEEK 2, she focused on some new foods to try out, new receipes and some vegetarian options just to be different. The 1st step was still continued too.
Step 3 - Based around WEEK 3, she focused on trying out some different activities in the evening or weekend. She aimed to pick activities that were new to her - reading some different types of books or watching a completely different type of film than she'd normally watch, trying some brain teasers, golf, horse riding, tennis, dancing, swimming, wind surfing...and if she found resistence she'd write it down in her journal.
Step 4 - Based around WEEK 4, she focused on positive talk. The other steps had started some new habits and now it was time to make sure that Mary was recognizing the positive changes and changing her mantra. Her self talk was going from 'I am not so sure about this' or 'I'll never change!' to one of 'Wow! Great work on making some small changes!' and 'Well done on nurturing your life and your health!'. Each time she had some resistence to change, she wrote it in her journal. This gave her some insight on how SHE was talking to HERSELF.
The great thing about the above 4 Steps is that at any point you find yourself wandering off or resisting doing it, just write it in the journal or start from Step 1 again. Repeat it as many times as you need to until you hit the end result. It can be applied to anything, just insert the relevant activity into the slot that will assist you with pushing forward towards your ultimate goal and only focus on each week as it arrives.
So what one positive step can you make this week towards your goal?
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