How to Get Your Butt In Gear

You can either motivate yourself to move towards what you want or we are so eager to get away from an unwanted situation.

It is more powerful to work towards what you do want rather than running away from what you don't want. You know how this works by now, if I ask you NOT to think of a blue ball, what is the first image that shows up in your mind? One of a blue ball, so you can't NOT think or focus on something without thinking of it first. 

So how do you motivate yourself?

First you have to make some decisions about what you want. Even if you are not too sure, declare one or two things that you know will make you happy. Do you want to shed a few kilos, start a new project, find a partner. Do not worry about the way you are going to do this, just decide that you want to. 

Then, in your day to day - break the routine. Do something different. Change something in your environment, space or appearance.

Complacency is when you are too comfortable, you have probably already achieved many of your desires and goals and you are so comfortable doing the same thing week in week out that there is no motivation to do more.

I see "discomfort" as opportunities. Often when I feel a little uncomfortable or lazy to do something that rationally I know could be empowering, I know that I need to stretch. We only grow when we stretch out of our comfort zones. 

Just like at the gym, for those who do any kind of resistance work, you know that only when it is a little hard to do, and almost painful that you are actually working the muscle. If it is too easy to do and you are too comfortable, you are still only moving within your comfort zones. Signs of complacency is when you are bored and when find that you are not resisting anything in your day. This is a sure sign that you are not stretching, therefore, not growing. On the other hand, if you find that everyday you find you come up against some resistance to do something, (be practical of course) but often that is the thing we most need to just do! 

For example, I feel resistance to get up on a weeknight and get dressed to go for networking evenings, but I know that going will be good for my work, I may meet interesting people who I can coach, or someone who may support me in getting a book published. In fact every time I have gone for an evening that I have resisted going for, I have met at least one person who has enriched my life either through the conversation we had or through the work they do. Point is, what I resist most, is what I most need to do in order to stay out of complacency!

An analogy is to go for a walk even when it is drizzling or over-cast, it means that your commitment to staying fit and healthy is much stronger than your need to stay comfortable and dry at home!

Getting and staying motivated to always keep growing, learning, evolving and changing is easy as soon as you have your desires clear in front of you. When you know what you WANT out of your life, what experiences you want to taste, what you want to do for the people around you and what you want to enjoy yourself, you will be able to dangle that carrot in front of you and keep the “towards-motivation” activated. If you find it challenging to do this yourself, declare your desires to a friend or better yet to a coach, then have them hold you accountable to do the things that it would require in order to have what you want. Set out little daily habits to stick to that will surely take you where you want to do.

We all get demotivated at times. It is normal.

And we all have excuses and reasons to feel "out of it" some days. We are affected by our hormones, time of month for us girls, Pre-MS, Post-MS, the tide, the moon's phases, planet alignments, what we ate or drank that day, whether we heard from the guy/girl we like or don't like, our weight, whether we are having a good or bad hair day, if we have any pimples, if the stock market us looking bearish or bullish, the weather, the traffic, if we made that deal or not!!! Everything affects our moods, but we have to be able to stay focused on WHAT WE WANT, and just keep at it despite our moods.

So, yeah it is normal to feel a little low and out of it sometimes, it’s just a sign that it’s time to shake things up a bit. I just keep that picture of my desired life in my mind, I visualize everything as I want them to be. The special people in my life, smiling and laughing, I include my surroundings and environment in this picture to encompass that I have what I want materially, I see myself smiling and glowing, I imagine and visualize people saying encouraging and happy things to me. In this vision, I have everything my heart desires, love, financial freedom, I am contributing and giving and I am having a great time with the people I love. I see them all happy too and this makes me smile and feel all warm inside.

Focusing on this mental image helps me to stay motivated to do do do what I feel inspired to "do". Even when I am moody, lazy, tired.

In gratitude for your time as always,

Malti Bhojwani

http://www.multi-coaching.com

NB: We all have different pain/comfort thresholds, If something feels wrong, too hard and too painful, check in to see if maybe it is wrong/dangerous or unwise for you to do it..