Why motivation is not your problem

So I’ve had a lingering cold / throat / chesty thing going on this past week

Nearly lost my voice, too!

Imagine that? ;-)

Finally seems to be all but gone

And for me?

There’s nothing worse than feeling rough…tired…

I almost feel myself getting annoyed at myself for not doing as much as I wanted to do

Which actually makes me feel… WORSE…

But anyway, started to feel a bit better on Friday

Not 100% though…

Which made me seriously question whether I should bother doing some exercise.

Simply because I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it all…

to the intensity that would be IDEAL…

So thought about sacking it off…

Literally doing NOTHING instead seemed like a good idea..

^^^ Read that again

My point?

Always think ‘something’ rather than ‘all or nothing’

And see how you get on..

But don’t just take my word on it and nod your head…

There’s one more thing that you need to do to help your motivation…

y’see, back in 2001, a study was completed in the UK with a group of people to try and build improved exercise habits. [if you’ve ever struggled with motivation in the past then you are going to find this very interesting]

The group was divided into 3.

GROUP 1 – The control group – were simply asked to track how often they exercised.

GROUP 2 – The motivation group – were asked to track their workouts BUT also to read material on the ‘benefits’ of exercise.

The researchers also explained to this group how exercise could reduce the risk of heart disease.

GROUP 3 – The planning group – They did all of the above BUT were also asked to do a plan writing down when and where they would exercise the following week.The specific sentence they had to write down was:

‘On Monday, I will walk at lunch time and do a 5 minute exercise session (such as this one HERE)”

AKA

‘During the next week, I will do [insert exercise] on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE]”

The Results – What % then actually exercised at least once the following week?

Group 1 = 35%

Group 2 = 38%

Group 3 = 91%

This is why just joining a standard gym and even some slimming clubs might not always work

[unless you write down the specific days / times you’re going to go and do exercise and have someone remind you to do it and chase you up if you get a bit stuck and overwhelmed with it all – not just 1 week but every week]

This is why just saying “I’m motivated this time’ is not enough.

This is why just saying “I’m going to eat more healthily’ is not enough.

This is why just saying “I need to work harder’ doesn’t always work

MOTIVATION was never your problem.

Having the right plan in place probably was..

Simple? – Yep

Easy? – Actually yes….providing you just focus on 1 day at a time…

Start this now.

Write this sentence down and fill in the blanks – you have a 91% success rate of turning up if you do this.

Then schedule it in. ….write it down.

‘During the next week, I will do [insert exercise] on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE]”

And as Woody Allen said, we all know that 80% of success is……..

‘Showing Up’

Matt ‘chesty’ Fruci

PS. You can grab a free copy of my book HERE

PPS. Watch How Cassie From Wiltshire Went From Mobility Scooter To Running Her First 5k & Fitting Back In Her Favourite Clothes Without Long, Boring Workouts Or Giving Up Her Favourite Foods >> CLICK HERE TO WATCH