QUICK MOTIVATION STRATEGY
A few weekends ago, I shared on my IG Stories that I was struggling with motivation and was literally just sitting on my garage floor because I couldn’t get the motivation to stand up and start moving. LOL
So in case you were wondering if trainers + coaches [or anyone for that matter] are always motivated… the answer is absolutely NOT. And I truly looooove working out. Like it is my sanity, for real. But that doesn’t mean I’m always hyped up to do it. Not at all.
Now - the privilege I have to my advantage, is that I have 14 years of experience training and coaching clients. And I have also studied human behavior and am in expert in behavior change strategies. So when I am in a situation like this past weekend, I call on my experience, tools and strategies to push me forward out of ruts.
There are a lot of directions you can go when it comes to leaning into motivation strategies. But I wanted to share this one, as the feedback I got in my DMs after sharing this was overwhelmingly positive!
Here’s what I did…
1. Decided how long I wanted to workout
For me, I know that currently [during my 3rd pregnancy in the 2nd trimester] it only takes about 20 minutes of movement for me to feel good physically. And 20 minutes also is a great amount of time for me to get into a positive headspace. So that is what I decided to set as my goal.
I think its really important to take a few things into consideration when thinking about your length of time for your workout:
How much time do you actually have?
How long does it take to feel good physically?
What amount of time is enough to shift your mindset?
What would allow you to leave your workout and feel accomplished if you stop at the end of the timer??
2. Grabbed my phone and set a timer [that I could see]
When you decide on your amount of time for your workout, take action right away and try not to stall between these steps. Grab your phone or device, and set a timer asap. If you start scrolling, chances are you will continue to put it off. So do your best to go straight to your timer app.
Pro Tip: Use the new ‘Focus’ feature on the iPhone to activate Do Not Disturb during your activity.
When you set your timer, stick exactly to the time you decided in step 1. Don’t guilt yourself into making it longer or shorter.
3. Pep talk + pressed start
Once the timer is set, give yourself a pep talk. “I’ve got this!” “I am going to feel incredible after these 20 minutes!” Whatever phrasing would motivate you - use that!
I just did my little pep talk for the roughly 20 seconds it took for me to stand up from the floor and press start on the timer.
4. Do the things
Immediately after I pressed start, I got right to it. I started moving immediately. Taking action right away is important. You are essentially telling your brain + your body that what you decided to do is important and you are going to follow through with what you set your mind to. It will allow you to keep a higher level of energy throughout.
Don’t forget. Just because you are doing maybe a shorter amount of time. That doesn’t mean you should skip warming up + activating your body to prepare for larger movements. Need 4 great moves to get a total body warm up without taking too much time? I’ve got you:
Hip Ups 20x, Cat Cow 10x, Banded Overhead ROM 10x, Body Weight Squat to Press 10x
5. Assess + keep going… or Stop
When the timer goes off, you reached you goal. Read that again, you will have reached your goal!! So take a second to celebrate that milestone. Then decide what you want to do next. You already accomplished what you set out to do, which in turn, was giving yourself permission to be done with your workout at that point. However, if you are feeling like you want to keep going, have the time + energy… you also have the option to keep going if you want.
I think that is the coolest part. Because essentially you set yourself up to do the minimum amount that you knew would make an impact. And in doing so, you already knew that was going to be enough to change your mindset in a more positive direction. Once we reach that point, a lot of times we are in this “oh yeahhhhh I do like working out, I don’t want to stop now!” mood lol which is great.
I have actually used this strategy for more things than just workouts. I do it for cleaning a lot. Because now that we are in a bigger house [vs small apartment], cleaning can be super overwhelming to think about at times. So I will set a 15 minute timer to get me started. Usually, once I get started I want to finish what I was planning to get done. But the timer allows me to have the motivation to start AND gives me permission to stop at 15 minutes if I realize I really wasn’t in the mood to clean. But what’s great, is that I can get a shit load of cleaning done in 15 minutes, surprisingly!
So take all this information for what it is. Information.
If you think this might be a strategy that works for you, give it a shot. And please let me know how it goes!!
Start slow, ease in.
Sending you love,