MOTIVATION – HOW TO STICK WITH IT
By Catherine Symons
We all have it: one minute we are completely on top of everything (everything’s just going so well… it’s a great feeling isn’t it) and then the next, we lose a bit of momentum and motivation just goes out of the window.
This is not to say it isn’t ok to lose motivation from time to time, no one can be ‘on it’ 24/7, but here are some ways you could stay a little more on track.
Allow yourself some time to relax. This can be as little or as big as you feel appropriate. Simply having a relaxing bath or going for a walk can really help to keep you grounded.
Having someone to keep you accountable but also someone who understands you is vital. There’s no better feeling than having someone who just gets you. This is how you should feel your relationship is with your coach (if you have one).
A good coach should be listening to YOU, not just telling you what to do. It’s all well and good smashing a session out, and going to failure on every exercise, but sometimes it’s good to take a bit of a step back – you can still get a good session done and as a result you’re more likely to bounce back quicker.
Establish what your goals are and more importantly what your values are – this is a key element to discuss with your coach.
We all have goals (or should do) that we are working towards – losing weight, getting stronger etc. But what are you actually doing that for? By adding an emotional attachment to these goals we turn them into something that we value, and therefore we are more likely to stick at them as they are important to us. For example, having a goal “to lose weight” could be changed to “I want to lose weight so I can play in the garden with my kids”. This adds a lot more value to the goal.
Also having small and large goals is a great way to feel like you’re achieving something regularly. It could be something small like to drink a certain amount of water a day, or a larger goal like to run your first marathon.
Simply reminding yourself that it’s ok to not feel motivated all the time is key, but hopefully some of these points will help you too.
Photo by Clark Tibbs on Unsplash
About the author
Catherine Symons is a qualified level 3 personal trainer, and currently studying to specialise in sports performance enhancement with strength & conditioning. Having competed from a young age in middle distance running, including representing Kent in many cross country championships, she understands what hard work is.
For the past two years she has begun to move away from competing in distance running, and instead found a passion in strength training. Combining the two disciplines together, Catherine has a good knowledge of many aspects of sports training. Recently Catherine has begun undergoing an internship at University of East London in their strength and conditioning programme where she helps out with a variety of athletes, as well as helping out with the athletes at Tonbridge Athletics Club.
Catherine’s passion is to help athletes and the ‘everyday gym goer’ to perform to their absolute best, in the most efficient way possible, to reach their goals and to achieve great results.
