So you have some goals, but you just can’t seem to achieve them. You’re frustrated, right? Well, why is it so hard? Do only a few lucky people get to achieve their goals? No…
It’s all about creating a logical plan and executing it.
There are three big reasons why people fail to achieve their goals:
They never set achievable goals to begin with.
They have no plan.
They never take any sort of logical action.
Do you think Steve Jobs and Bill gates were just lucky, or did they have a plan? You better believe they had a plan – a long, long-term vision. And then they worked hard and took a series of logical, actionable steps to achieve them. They didn’t just ‘think it.’ They ‘did it.’
You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out and say, “I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that has ever been built.” You say, “I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.”
You do this every single day, and soon you have a wall.
-Will Smith
How To Achieve Your Goals
Over the years I have achieved many of my personal goals. And in all cases this is the methodology I used. It’s tried and true, and I assure you, it can help you achieve your goals as well. There are four basic steps:
Set achievable goals.
Strategize and plan.
Take action.
Review your progress regularly.
Let’s go through them one at a time.
Set Achievable Goals
When you are climbing the ladder, ensure that
you are leaning against the right wall.
You can climb the ladder as fast as you want, but it’s going to be a giant waste of your time if you get to the top and realize you’re leaning against the wrong wall. You will need to get this step right to ensure that you are not wasting your efforts on goals that you do not truly want to achieve. We as humans have a tendency to try to bite off more than we can chew, and this usually causes us to feel frustrated and annoyed.
Because we only have a finite amount of time, it’s foolish to attempt to conquer the world in a day. Yeah, you could set goals to be the best guitar player, basketball player, football player, lose weight, be financially savvy, earn $10,000 and join the public speaking club all at the same time. But does that sound logical or achievable? Not to me it doesn’t. How can you excel at anything when you are juggling everything?
So the first key is to figure out a few (1 to 3) things that you truly want. And make sure you truly understand why you want these things. Otherwise you’ll just lose interest.
Strategize and Plan
Here are the basic strategies you will need to employ to keep your motivation burning and your progress on track:
A) Paste up your goals where you can see them every day. – Without reminders, you will likely forget about your goals and become easily distracted by other stimuli. So print them out 10, 20 or 30 times and paste them up in the most prominent, visible areas around your house, office, etc.
B) Create a visualization board. – For most of us, our mind sees the world in images and we remember images more clearly compared to text and numbers. A visualization board is basically a large bulletin board filled with clear images of what you want to achieve. This added visual stimulation can help invoke powerful emotions that will constantly drive your motivation.
If you want to lose weight and get back down a few pants sizes, put an old photo of yourself up on the board. If you want your blog to start making a thousand dollars a month, find a few success stories online of people that have achieved that goal and stick it up on the board. You get the idea. Position the board right next to your work area so you can see it while you work toward your goals.
C) Form a small mastermind group. – A mastermind group is your support group. And believe me, this group is a vital entity to your success. The group can consist of any amount of people (at least 2), but the important thing is that everyone in the group must share similar goals. It doesn’t help much when you are trying to lose 30 lbs and other members in the group have goals of setting up their own company.
A mastermind group helps to hold all its members accountable. This will help you maintain consistency in taking action even when laziness gets the best of you. Be sure to meet with your mastermind group at least once a week.
D) Create a daily action plan with actionable tasks. – Bullet points A, B and C help you to sustain the desire and motivation to achieve your goals. This will ensure that you will not give up halfway though and fall backwards on your rear end. But you also need a real, actionable plan that you can follow every day until you actually do achieve your goals.
Every morning, brainstorm for tasks that will help to bring you closer to your goals and write them down. Try to create three small actionable tasks each morning and complete them before you go to sleep. Make them a priority and fit them into your schedule. Whether you complete them or not makes a big difference in whether or not you will succeed.
If you find it hard to generate the small daily tasks or an actionable plan that will bring you closer to your goals, seek out a mentor, search online, or purchase a book on goal setting.
Here are three books I highly recommend:
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time
Focal Point: A Proven System to Simplify Your Life, Double Your Productivity, and Achieve All Your Goals
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
Breaking down your goals will help you avoid the feeling of being overwhelmed. When you are creating your action plan, keep the short-term tasks in mind instead of obsessing over the long-term end result. Obsessing over long-term results just creates stress. It is far easier to think on a short-term task-related basis. And as long as you complete your tasks, the results will take care of themselves. For instance, if you want to write a book, don’t obsess about completing the book (long-term results oriented), just focus on writing a page or two a day (short-term task-related) and soon you will have your book completed.
E) Set a deadline. – You will also need to set a deadline for your goal. A long-term goal without a deadline will not instill any sense of urgency in you. And defining a deadline also gives you something to look forward to.
Take Action
This step doesn’t need a long explanation. Just take your daily action plan that we created above and DO IT! More than anything, successfully achieving any goal hinges on the simple act of making a decision to absorb yourself fully in the process of getting things done – actually taking action.
Review Your Progress Regularly
An airplane goes slightly off its set course 70 to 80 percent of the time during an average flight, but the pilots always manage to land it in the exact location they intended. How? It’s quite simple. Every time they go off course, they make a slight adjustment to correct it.
Reviewing your goals regularly will help you to check your progress to determine if any adjustments are required. In addition, monitoring your progress will also likely motivate you to try even harder. Whenever we see positive results, we have the tendency to take more action so we can see more positive results.
Parting Words
This article was inspired by one of the comments I recently received over on my blog. It seems that people are often frustrated that they can’t stick to their goals and achieve the results they want in life. I hope this article helps. I would love to hear some feedback from you in the comments section below. I’ll be sure to follow-up. Cheers.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Emotional Eating
Below are the 12 types of emotional hunger that fuel emotional eating. In order to lose weight for life, you will have to conquer all 12 types. Look over the list -- which type of emotional hunger derails your diet?
Type 1. Dulling The Pain With The Food.
If you get really hungry when you feel angry, depressed, anxious, bored, or lonely, you suffer from Type 1 emotional hunger, and you use food to dull the pain that these emotions cause.
Type 2. Sticks And Stones May Break Your Bones, But Cake Won't Heal What Hurts You.
According to Dr. Gould and Mastering Food, if you react by getting hungry when others talk down to you, take advantage of you, belittle you or take you for granted, then you suffer from Type 2 emotional hunger. You eat to avoid confrontation.
Type 3. A Full Heart Fills An Empty Belly.
If you crave food when you have tension in your close relationships, you suffer from Type 3 emotional hunger. You eat to avoid feeling the pain of rejection or anger.
Type 4. Hate Yourself, Love Your Munchies.
If you tend to become hypercritical of yourself, if you label yourself "stupid," "lazy," or "a loser," you have Type 4 emotional hunger. You eat to "stuff down" self-doubts.
Type 5. Secret Desires Have No Calories.
If your hunger gets activated because your intimate relationships don't satisfy some basic need like trust or security, you suffer from Type 5 emotional hunger and you use food to try to fill the gap, according to Dr. Gould and Mastering Food,
Type 6. Forty Gulps And The Well Is Still Empty.
If you eat to make up for the deprivation you experienced as a child, you have Type 6 emotional eating.
Type 7. It's My Pastry, and I'll Eat If I Want To.
If you eat to assert your independence because you don't want anyone telling you what to do, you have Type 7 emotional hunger.
Type 8. I Can't Come To Work Today--I'm Eating
According to Dr. Gould and Mastering Food, if your appetite kicks in when you're faced with new challenges--if you use food to avoid rising to the test, or to insulate yourself from the fear of failure--you have Type 8 emotional hunger.
Type 9. Aroused by Aromas, Not by the Chef.
If you stuff your face in order to avoid your sexuality-either to stay overweight so that nobody desires you or to hide from intimate encounters--you suffer from Type 9 emotional hunger.
Type 10. I'll Beat You With this Éclair.
Emotional eaters often eat to pay back those who have hurt them, often in the distant past. They use their bodies as battlegrounds for working out old resentments. If you do this, you're really battling type 10 emotional hunger
Type 11. Peter Pan and the Peanut Butter Cookie.
If you eat to make yourself feel carefree, like a child, you have Type 11 emotional hunger. You eat to keep yourself from facing the challenges of growing up.
Type 12. That Stranger In Shorts Wearing Your Face.
If you overeat because you fear getting thin, either consciously or unconsciously, you have Type 12 emotional hunger.
Type 1. Dulling The Pain With The Food.
If you get really hungry when you feel angry, depressed, anxious, bored, or lonely, you suffer from Type 1 emotional hunger, and you use food to dull the pain that these emotions cause.
Type 2. Sticks And Stones May Break Your Bones, But Cake Won't Heal What Hurts You.
According to Dr. Gould and Mastering Food, if you react by getting hungry when others talk down to you, take advantage of you, belittle you or take you for granted, then you suffer from Type 2 emotional hunger. You eat to avoid confrontation.
Type 3. A Full Heart Fills An Empty Belly.
If you crave food when you have tension in your close relationships, you suffer from Type 3 emotional hunger. You eat to avoid feeling the pain of rejection or anger.
Type 4. Hate Yourself, Love Your Munchies.
If you tend to become hypercritical of yourself, if you label yourself "stupid," "lazy," or "a loser," you have Type 4 emotional hunger. You eat to "stuff down" self-doubts.
Type 5. Secret Desires Have No Calories.
If your hunger gets activated because your intimate relationships don't satisfy some basic need like trust or security, you suffer from Type 5 emotional hunger and you use food to try to fill the gap, according to Dr. Gould and Mastering Food,
Type 6. Forty Gulps And The Well Is Still Empty.
If you eat to make up for the deprivation you experienced as a child, you have Type 6 emotional eating.
Type 7. It's My Pastry, and I'll Eat If I Want To.
If you eat to assert your independence because you don't want anyone telling you what to do, you have Type 7 emotional hunger.
Type 8. I Can't Come To Work Today--I'm Eating
According to Dr. Gould and Mastering Food, if your appetite kicks in when you're faced with new challenges--if you use food to avoid rising to the test, or to insulate yourself from the fear of failure--you have Type 8 emotional hunger.
Type 9. Aroused by Aromas, Not by the Chef.
If you stuff your face in order to avoid your sexuality-either to stay overweight so that nobody desires you or to hide from intimate encounters--you suffer from Type 9 emotional hunger.
Type 10. I'll Beat You With this Éclair.
Emotional eaters often eat to pay back those who have hurt them, often in the distant past. They use their bodies as battlegrounds for working out old resentments. If you do this, you're really battling type 10 emotional hunger
Type 11. Peter Pan and the Peanut Butter Cookie.
If you eat to make yourself feel carefree, like a child, you have Type 11 emotional hunger. You eat to keep yourself from facing the challenges of growing up.
Type 12. That Stranger In Shorts Wearing Your Face.
If you overeat because you fear getting thin, either consciously or unconsciously, you have Type 12 emotional hunger.
Carl Jung
Carl Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist, an influential thinker and is renowned as the founder of analytical psychology. Although he was a theoretical psychologist and practicing clinician, much of his life’s work was spent exploring other areas, including Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, sociology, as well as literature and the arts. His most notable ideas include the concept of psychological archetypes, the collective unconscious and synchronicity. Jung is the source of some of my all time favorite quotes. I admire how he mixes logical thinking along with a grain of spirituality and the subconscious realms. Here is a list of my favorite quotes from Carl Jung:
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves.
Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.
The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotions.
A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.
Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.
In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.
It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.
Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.
Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.
Shrinking away from death is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life of its purpose.
The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.
The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.
The word “happiness” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
There is no coming to consciousness without pain.
We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to a better understanding of ourselves.
Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents of life, is without trouble.
The healthy man does not torture others – generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotions.
A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.
Great talents are the most lovely and often the most dangerous fruits on the tree of humanity. They hang upon the most slender twigs that are easily snapped off.
In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order.
It all depends on how we look at things, and not how they are in themselves.
Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.
Knowledge rests not upon truth alone, but upon error also.
Often the hands will solve a mystery that the intellect has struggled with in vain.
Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.
Shrinking away from death is something unhealthy and abnormal which robs the second half of life of its purpose.
The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable.
The least of things with a meaning is worth more in life than the greatest of things without it.
The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.
The word “happiness” would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness.
There is no coming to consciousness without pain.
We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.
Who has fully realized that history is not contained in thick books but lives in our very blood?
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Shedding My Skin
So, this always happens to me. I go through this phase. I shed what was once me and recalculate. I'm really trying to figure out the adult I want to be. The 30 year old I want to be. Who I am. What I stand for. Being a good friend. Finding a career that I absolutely love! Have a family. Get married. Travel. More animals. Happiness. I want so bad for things to just go together and without too much struggle, I think that is achievable. I want so much to be this person that I value, respect, and look up to.
My first 3 obstacles that I am going for (from Sunday to Saturday) are to call all the girls about bridesmaid dresses. Do they want me to go with?? Will they need help? Tell them to take pictures. ;)
The second obstacle would have to be getting active. I need to start working out. I want to lose weight. I want to be healthy. I want to have children one day and I want to be able to keep up with them. I want to have cool looking clothes that I'm proud to wear and defines who I am. I want the increased self-esteem.
The third obstacle is getting my car washed. The interior and exterior!
These are totally attainable goals. I will do it. xo
My first 3 obstacles that I am going for (from Sunday to Saturday) are to call all the girls about bridesmaid dresses. Do they want me to go with?? Will they need help? Tell them to take pictures. ;)
The second obstacle would have to be getting active. I need to start working out. I want to lose weight. I want to be healthy. I want to have children one day and I want to be able to keep up with them. I want to have cool looking clothes that I'm proud to wear and defines who I am. I want the increased self-esteem.
The third obstacle is getting my car washed. The interior and exterior!
These are totally attainable goals. I will do it. xo
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Remember to Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables
*Fruits*
Green Grapes – Vitamins A,C,D,E,K, Protein Fiber, Folate, Magnesium, Zinc
Kiwi fruit – Vitamins C, E, Fiber, Potassium,
Green Apples – Vitamins A, C, E, K, Protein, Fiber
Pears – Vitamins A, B, C, E, K, Fiber
Honeydew Melon – Vitamins A, C, Calcium, Iron
Limes – Vitamins A, B, C, E, K, Folate, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
*Vegetables*
Broccoli – Vitamins A, C, E, K, Protein, Folate, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron
Arugula Lettuce – Vitamins A, C, Calcium, Folate
Kale – Vitamins A, C, K, Protein, Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron
Collard Greens – Vitamins A, C, K, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Folate
Romaine Lettuce – Vitamins A, C, K, Folate
Spinach – Vitamins A, C, B, E, K, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Folate, Magnesium, Iron
Artichokes – Vitamin C, Fiber, Folate, Magnesium
Celery – Vitamins A, C, Protein, Fiber
Peas – Vitamins A, C Fiber, Folate
Onions – Vitamins, A, C, K, Calcium
Sprouts – Vitamins, B, C, Folate Potassium, Iron
Asparagus – Vitamins B, C, E, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Swiss Chard – Vitamins, A, C, K, Potassium, Iron
Olives – Vitamins A, B, C, E, K, Calcium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc
Avocados – Vitamins C, B, E, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Green Beans – Vitamin C, Protein, Fiber, Potassium, Iron
Cucumber – Vitamins B, C, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Zucchini – Vitamins A, C, Potassium, Folate
Soybeans – Vitamins A, B, C, K, Protein, Calcium, Potassium, Fiber, Lysine, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Green Grapes – Vitamins A,C,D,E,K, Protein Fiber, Folate, Magnesium, Zinc
Kiwi fruit – Vitamins C, E, Fiber, Potassium,
Green Apples – Vitamins A, C, E, K, Protein, Fiber
Pears – Vitamins A, B, C, E, K, Fiber
Honeydew Melon – Vitamins A, C, Calcium, Iron
Limes – Vitamins A, B, C, E, K, Folate, Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
*Vegetables*
Broccoli – Vitamins A, C, E, K, Protein, Folate, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron
Arugula Lettuce – Vitamins A, C, Calcium, Folate
Kale – Vitamins A, C, K, Protein, Fiber, Folate, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron
Collard Greens – Vitamins A, C, K, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Folate
Romaine Lettuce – Vitamins A, C, K, Folate
Spinach – Vitamins A, C, B, E, K, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Folate, Magnesium, Iron
Artichokes – Vitamin C, Fiber, Folate, Magnesium
Celery – Vitamins A, C, Protein, Fiber
Peas – Vitamins A, C Fiber, Folate
Onions – Vitamins, A, C, K, Calcium
Sprouts – Vitamins, B, C, Folate Potassium, Iron
Asparagus – Vitamins B, C, E, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Swiss Chard – Vitamins, A, C, K, Potassium, Iron
Olives – Vitamins A, B, C, E, K, Calcium, Potassium, Iron, Zinc
Avocados – Vitamins C, B, E, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Green Beans – Vitamin C, Protein, Fiber, Potassium, Iron
Cucumber – Vitamins B, C, Protein, Calcium, Fiber, Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Zucchini – Vitamins A, C, Potassium, Folate
Soybeans – Vitamins A, B, C, K, Protein, Calcium, Potassium, Fiber, Lysine, Magnesium, Iron, Zinc
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Time For Me to Fly
I've been thinking about typing on here for a while. You see, I start things, but never finish them. I do it ALL the time. I have a million journals..4 or 5 pages long...haha. It's quite funny when I think about it. Why do I do that? It's like I get bored with myself or with what I'm up to at that time. It's as if I'm driving and a fork in the road comes along and I'm like, "See ya, I'm taking this route now.."
Even right now, I was about to check out another website. Abandon ship here and come aboard another ship. To me...that is an inability to keep focus, inability to finish things, getting bored, forgetfulness. I look at all these words and they are soooooooo negative. Inability, forgetfulness...
I keep shouting to myself.. "stop being so hard on yourself!" And really, I am! I'm soooo hard on myself. It's so frustrating! But, I think I'm going to stop that. I've been listening to positive vibes lately and have been really inspired! Law of Attraction, baby! ;)
I'll write more later.
Bye Self. xo
Even right now, I was about to check out another website. Abandon ship here and come aboard another ship. To me...that is an inability to keep focus, inability to finish things, getting bored, forgetfulness. I look at all these words and they are soooooooo negative. Inability, forgetfulness...
I keep shouting to myself.. "stop being so hard on yourself!" And really, I am! I'm soooo hard on myself. It's so frustrating! But, I think I'm going to stop that. I've been listening to positive vibes lately and have been really inspired! Law of Attraction, baby! ;)
I'll write more later.
Bye Self. xo
Saturday, April 17, 2010
2 Simple Keys to Long Term Exercise
I’ve been working out at least 4 days a week since I was a freshman in high school. I’m now 26, so I feel like I have a solid understanding of how to stay consistently motivated and dedicated to an exercise regimen. I’ve read numerous articles with widely varying tips on how to accomplish this. These tips range from the simple act of getting a gym membership all the way to the intricacies of documenting a well defined set of fitness goals and personal rewards for accomplishing these goals. I’ve even read that getting dressed in gym clothes or making a commitment to walking the dog is enough to get the average person motivated.
While I don’t doubt the legitimacy in some of the suggested methods I’ve read, I don’t really think that they hold the key to long term exercise motivation and commitment. A regular exercise routine can be extremely redundant. The redundancy will eventually bore the average person out of their right mind. So even tough joining a gym, finding a workout buddy, and documenting fitness goals is a good start, it won’t exactly keep a person motivated 6 months down the road. In time, most people will start thinking hard about all the enjoyable things they would rather be doing instead… at which point the battle is lost.
So, what’s the key to long term exercise motivation? There are actually 2 keys, 2 very simple keys, music and variance. Motivation is usually driven by the desire to accomplish something, but it is kept intact on a moment to moment basis by continuously stimulating the mind. If the mind isn’t stimulated, it will rapidly lose desire for the original goal. In order to create a desire for exercise, you have to stimulate your mind by making exercise an enjoyable and adventurous experience, which is exactly what music and variance add to a long term exercise routine.
Music – Music makes us think, it gets us going, and it sets our stream of consciousness on a positive course. Both fast beat and slow beat music have the same stimulating effect on the mind, so alternate between the two while you exercise. Also, discovering new music that you like is one of the most rewarding experiences. Once you overplay all your favorite artists, start plugging their names into the various Web 2.0 music recommendation sites. These sites will assist you in discovering new bands and artists based on similarities to music you already like. Use your exercise time to rediscover your favorite artists, discover new ones, and build a massive collection of music that you will enjoy for the rest of your life. It won’t be long before you realize that music makes exercise fun.
Variance – No matter how wonderful an activity is at first, if it is performed in repetition over the course of several weeks it will ultimately become a dreadfully boring experience. Keep things fresh! Do a variety of different exercises each week. Your gym has numerous exercise machines, free weights, and pieces of cardio equipment. Ask a trainer for help if you need to, or just be adventurous and figure it out for yourself. Watch other people and learn. Just make sure you always start off with very light weight or speed settings when you are unfamiliar with an exercise. Once you have all the exercises down, start randomly alternating through them on a weekly basis. Do 3 or 4 sets of 3 or 4 exercises 3 or 4 times a week. Never do the same exact exercises in the same exact order 2 weeks in a row.
While I don’t doubt the legitimacy in some of the suggested methods I’ve read, I don’t really think that they hold the key to long term exercise motivation and commitment. A regular exercise routine can be extremely redundant. The redundancy will eventually bore the average person out of their right mind. So even tough joining a gym, finding a workout buddy, and documenting fitness goals is a good start, it won’t exactly keep a person motivated 6 months down the road. In time, most people will start thinking hard about all the enjoyable things they would rather be doing instead… at which point the battle is lost.
So, what’s the key to long term exercise motivation? There are actually 2 keys, 2 very simple keys, music and variance. Motivation is usually driven by the desire to accomplish something, but it is kept intact on a moment to moment basis by continuously stimulating the mind. If the mind isn’t stimulated, it will rapidly lose desire for the original goal. In order to create a desire for exercise, you have to stimulate your mind by making exercise an enjoyable and adventurous experience, which is exactly what music and variance add to a long term exercise routine.
Music – Music makes us think, it gets us going, and it sets our stream of consciousness on a positive course. Both fast beat and slow beat music have the same stimulating effect on the mind, so alternate between the two while you exercise. Also, discovering new music that you like is one of the most rewarding experiences. Once you overplay all your favorite artists, start plugging their names into the various Web 2.0 music recommendation sites. These sites will assist you in discovering new bands and artists based on similarities to music you already like. Use your exercise time to rediscover your favorite artists, discover new ones, and build a massive collection of music that you will enjoy for the rest of your life. It won’t be long before you realize that music makes exercise fun.
Variance – No matter how wonderful an activity is at first, if it is performed in repetition over the course of several weeks it will ultimately become a dreadfully boring experience. Keep things fresh! Do a variety of different exercises each week. Your gym has numerous exercise machines, free weights, and pieces of cardio equipment. Ask a trainer for help if you need to, or just be adventurous and figure it out for yourself. Watch other people and learn. Just make sure you always start off with very light weight or speed settings when you are unfamiliar with an exercise. Once you have all the exercises down, start randomly alternating through them on a weekly basis. Do 3 or 4 sets of 3 or 4 exercises 3 or 4 times a week. Never do the same exact exercises in the same exact order 2 weeks in a row.
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