#180: Motivation Myths and Momentum – How to Get Moving and Stay Inspired!

In this episode, we tackle the ups and downs of motivation and why waiting for the “perfect moment” might be holding you back. Discover how to reframe your mindset, prioritise habits over fleeting feelings, and take small but impactful steps toward creating lasting change. 

Tune in to learn:
✔ Why motivation isn’t always the key to success
✔ Simple strategies to build habits and prioritize your fitness goals
✔ How to focus on your why to stay inspired long-term


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Transcript

#180: Motivation Myths and Momentum – How to Get Moving and Stay Inspired!


Hello. Hello. I'm back today. Your weekly little dose of some motivation and speaking of motivation, it's something really important that I want to talk to you all about is about feeling motivated. I've heard quite a few people saying in the last week or so that they are struggling with their motivation.
I just think it's a really important topic to talk about to understand how to get over it when we are feeling unmotivated. The, uh, the thing is, is I think we all run, you know, we all are waiting for this big jump in energy, you know, or, or to feel a certain way before we do, you know, to get started or to keep us going if you've maybe dropped off from your classes and you want to get back into it.
But the thing is the motive, that type of motivation, it's, it's, it could never be there, you know, it could never be there, but you could waste six months, um, six months of your time. waiting for that perfect moment or waiting for you to be motivated enough. And you know, I love exercise. I know how important it is, but you know, there's lots of times that I would prefer to do something else.
And, uh, you know, I do have to kind of push myself to, to do it and to get going. Um, and, and, um, you know, you're not, you're not alone in feeling that way. I just think we need to, uh, look at reframing how we feel about it and look at it a little bit differently. So motivation is going to be something that's going to get you started.
So it's going to get you started. It is going to, you know, but it is, it is not something that's going to keep you going long term. So, and I think if we are continually waiting for this moment to feel motivated enough to start, um, you may never ever start. So. So I would like you to reframe how we think about, uh, motivation.
There's a story, there's a story that I love and it explains, uh, explains motivation quite well. So a man moves into a new neighborhood and he moves to his new neighborhood and he notices his neighbor across the road has a dog and the dog, uh, he's sitting on the porch and the dog is barking and, um, the dog's barking and he's like, Oh, you know, I wonder what that is.
Hopefully that's just like a once off. So a couple of weeks go by and the dog, um, the dog continually barks. So the dog's continually barking and it's starting to become a little bit annoying. So the name, this guy goes and introduces himself to his new neighbor. Hi, I've just moved in. Um, you know, and how, how are you going?
Bye bye. And he's like, Oh, you know, your dog, uh, it's fine. You know, I've noticed it dogs barking. Is everything okay? You know, it's been back in quite a bit. Okay. And, um, the dog owner, so the, he says, oh, the neighbor, he says, um, oh yeah, he's sitting on a nail. That's why the dog's barking, is barking because he's sitting on a nail.
And um, you know, so the guy's like, oh my gosh, like he's sitting on a nail. Is he okay? We need to move him. And the neighbor's like, it's not painful enough yet. That's the thing is how painful does it have to be before you get started? We, you know, in the end, we all know the benefits of exercise. We all know the benefits of moving more and how it is good, good for us in so many other ways than just aesthetics.
But, um, you know, how painful does it have to get, how bad. You know, do, does, does your pain need to be, or do you, you know, how bad does stuff have to get before we finally take that step and do something? So many people that I know say, why did it take me this long to start? Why did I take, so how long are you going to continually sit on that nail before you get up and do it?
And waiting for that motivation, waiting for that perfect moment to get you started. You can be sitting on that now for years or for months. And I just don't want that for you and we don't need that. So I really want you to think about how you do feel when you are working out and when you are regularly exercising.
And it's not only in the moment of what happens when you're exercising, it's all the other knockoff effects that happens after. And I think we really need to remind ourselves of that. Over, over all my years of being trainers, what do I see? I see people that get really motivated and they're doing. Really well and they're coming to classes regularly and when they seem to be doing that their food seems to be more in check You know, they're, uh, you know, they're feeling less stressed They seem to be more, you know on the feel like they're doing better things at work Feel like maybe they're doing better things with the kids.
So they've got all these things all this knockoff effect And then they stop exercising and then they suddenly feel like I don't need to eat as well as what I was eating because, you know, I'm not working out. So they, they, their eating then tends to drop off and then they tend to feel more tired or more, or more sluggish, you know, and then they can't be motivated to, they're not feeling as motivated to prepare some food.
Again, makes you feel crappier. Their stress seems to increase because, um, they're not moving as much, you know. So then they tend to be cranky with the kids. So it's like this domino effect. And I think that's what it's really important. Exercise is so much more than just how your body looks and trying to look a certain way.
Um, there's so many more other benefits that are so much more important than that. And when, You we are feeling unmotivated to get to a class or unmotivated to start back I really want you to think about this and you know Think about how how long are you going to sit on that now for and be and you know Not be the best that you can be How long are you gonna do that for because yep, it's it's um, it can it's hard to get started again Especially if you've dropped off, it's hard to get back into it.
But it's um, it's You know, it, it will always be harder the longer you leave it. Uh, you know, and it's just, just waiting for that moment to feel motivated enough. It may never come. And the thing is that when you get back into it, I can guarantee you that you will feel so much, you'll feel so much better.
And you'll say, why? Why, um, did I leave it so long? And I want you to think if you've ever, if you've ever been in this circumstance before, which I know lots of us have, um, is have you had a time where you had stopped exercising or, and, and then you went back and then you remember how could you felt? And you know, I want, I want you to remind yourself of that time when you feel unmotivated or you feel like you can't be bothered, um, to do it.
Now. I do not feel motivated to exercise all the time. Never. I find it harder. I think sometimes because I'm training everybody for such long times. When I finished training everyone, the last thing I actually want to do is train myself. So saying to struggle that you're struggling with motivation or struggling to do it, um, is something I'm very familiar with.
And it's, um, is a little battle that I have in my head. So what I do is, um, it's a battle I, I have, um, but I never give into it. I, I, these are the things that I do and why, why I do then end up working out and making sure that I do something. I know how important it is. It is something that You know, I do, I spent a lot of time training everyone else.
So by the time that I finish, um, I don't want to be in the gym anymore. My biggest thing that I do is I always think about how I feel after. And I remind myself of that moment that I always feel better for it. And I have times where I didn't feel motivated. It didn't, you know, couldn't be bothered and I didn't work out and I felt crappy for it.
So I remember those times and the more times that I've done it, the easier it You know, I remember how crappy I felt. So I don't, I don't continue with it because I don't, I felt crappy. So I don't, I don't want to feel that way. It's more of that habit. You know, I'm keeping that habit up of my exercise. So, so I remind myself of that.
I remind myself of, of how good I feel when I finish. I always go back to my why. So I go back to my why and my why That's so when we're looking for the, for your motivation, it's really digging deep because motivation can be very, um, just surface level. So I want you to dig deeper and to really understand why you're actually working out and what you want to get from it and you'll get so much more when you understand this.
So my, my why is that I want to live a good quality life and I believe the fitter and stronger that I am will prevent me from injury diseases. aging and it will give me the best chance if I get sick at any point, uh, the fitter and stronger I am, the more muscle mass I have, the more my body will be able to fight, uh, whatever illness I have.
If I happen to get that, uh, if I got injured or sick or was in an accident or something, again, by being fitter and stronger, I'm giving my body a better chance. So I believe that by, you know, eating well and exercising, exercising. Maintaining and, you know, focusing on muscle strength by, I believe by having all of those things, it is going to give me a better quality of life.
I do not. I want to be an 80 year old that is still running around doing things. I don't want to be an 80 year old in a home. Gram. So that is my motivation. I remind myself of that why, when I feel unmotivated. I remind myself of this is, this is actually why you're doing this and by not doing it, I'm not aligning myself with that.
You know, the work does have to start now to, for, you know, the work has to start now for, for them. Um, can't get it done. If you're trying to gain strength and that are 80 years old, you know, it's, it's a lot harder than what it is to start doing that when you're younger. It's never, ever too late, you know, but there's a point where, you know, you've already.
You know, you've already had injuries or you know, you haven't rehabbed them or any of those things. So that's why all of that stuff is so, so, so important. And I remind myself of that constantly when I feel unmotivated. We were just away and when we were away for a week, I joined the gym that was on the ship.
Um, I joined the gym there and I deliberately chose the classes because I was on my own and I had the kids with me and I knew. So before I went away, um, I had already pre planned how I was going to fit exercise in. So normally when we go away, like I would go to a gym or I would exercise in. You know, if we're not in a place where there's a gym, I would go outside and run or do something like that.
But obviously, uh, Lee's normally with me, but this time Lee wasn't with me. So I knew I had to make something work with the kids, but I thought about it and I planned it before I went. I knew how crappy I would feel if I didn't do anything. Uh, I knew that I needed to have something in place. Because it was only me and the kids, so I knew that, and they won't go to kids club or any of those things.
So I, and I, so I, I worked out that I could go to, they had gym classes there, so I worked out I could go to the gym classes. And I would be able to bring the kids with me, because the kids aren't allowed in the actual gym. Um, I spoke to the kids about it, and I said how important it was for them. For me and that this was a thing that I needed to do for myself every day.
So I had all of that stuff pre planned before I went away. Um, but then when we went, um, I did go to the gym every day, but I did, um, I went, I missed one day, so I think I went five out of the six days and, um, by every morning before I went, I thought, cause the kids would maybe still be asleep when I thought, Oh, just.
Just don't bother, just don't go, you know, um, but then I had to remind myself of all of those things and I would just get up and do it. And, you know, I always say to people create the path of least resistance like the night before. So set yourself up for success. So, you know, I would always have my things laid out the night before so that I had, You know, it was the easiest route for me to get out the door.
And, um, I say for you to do the same thing, you know, and it's just reminding yourself that it's really easy to just say, no, you're not going to go, but it's not easy. That doesn't make life easy long term. So understanding what you really want out of life and you know, I know lots of people want to run around with their kids or their grandkids and there's people that, you know, have injuries or, you know, but sitting down and doing nothing isn't, isn't going to help any of it.
It's, it's not going to help you. You in the long term. It's just going to keep you stuck where you are. So when we feel unmotivated, you know, we feel like we can't be bothered. I want, I want you to think of all of these things and just get up and do it. Now they say, you know, your motivation does get you started, but it's creating habits that's going to keep you there long term.
So it's also looking and prioritizing, you know, prioritizing your workouts. Like before I went away, I, I planned, I planned what I was going to do. So that I could fit it in and work out how I could fit in my life. I also know myself, I'm um, better to do, I find it better to do something in the morning because it's done.
I find that there's more excuses in the afternoon not to go. So that's why again, I knew that I would have to do something in the morning time instead of the evening, but you're, we're all different. When I used to live in Scotland, I used to go to the gym after work. And I used to walk, I used to carry my gym stuff to work.
So, leave my house, go to the train station, go to work, come back, walk past my house. So I could have easily not carried all that stuff with me, but I would go past my house to go to the gym because I knew that if I went home to get changed, I just wouldn't go back out. So again, it's the same thing.
finding something like, Oh, you know, I'm going to come to the evening session or the four o'clock session. Well, I need to come straight from work or straight from here because if I, you know, are you more likely to not go back out if you go home? I know that's, that's what I am. So, so I did stuff like that.
So, um, you know, and like we said, with, with habits, the longer that you miss, the harder it is to get back, the harder it is to restart. And that's what I want to think. They say, Miss one session, that's fine. Miss two, you know, you're then starting to create a new habit for you to not go. Miss three, you know, you're then reinstalling this new habit of not going.
So it's really important to keep, to, to keep yourself moving, to keep yourself going in those times when you just feel like you can't be bothered because, um, and just keep the routine up, show up. It might not be your best workout, you might not be, but you know what? I've never had anybody come and leave and say, I feel worse off for being there.
You know, I, I haven't, and you know, it, it might not be perfect. Um, but as everyone knows, there is always In our classes, there is always an alternative of what you can do. There is always something that we will make you move in a way that is safe, that you won't hurt yourself, and you will feel better for it.
And the more times that you, the more times you leave it, the longer it is, it just gets harder to go back. And we want to, we want to hide and just Um, and again, I know the feeling, I know, I understand it. I've been there myself, um, millions of times and, um, but you know, the more, the more times I've done it, the more times I, I.
You know, you're gonna learn the lessons and don't repeat it. And now, now, you know, I just, I give myself a little pep talk, but I still have to, I have to give myself a pep talk. I know all this stuff. I know how important it is, but I still have to give myself the little pep talk. And, um, you know, I'm really conscious of the habits of not letting things drop off because again, they drop off.
It's harder to get it, to get it started, um, back again. So I keep this video as a little reminder when you are feeling a little bit unmotivated. The other thing is come and speak to us. We're here for you. You're not alone and you know, sometimes just getting how you're feeling off your chest, especially when we're not feeling the greatest.
We're not feeling motivated. You know getting it off your chest is Um, you know, it's really good to sometimes get a different perspective because sometimes we create these little ideas in our head of things and they're maybe not quite how we're, we're seeing it or we should, you know, like, um, yeah, it's not quite, it's not quite that way.
And sometimes you just need somebody from the outside To point that perspective out, I want to see everybody feeling not looking for motivation, you know, just think about it as I'm, I am creating habits and I'm creating the habits because of the lifestyle I want to live. I also say when people say, I don't have enough time to exercise, you know, or I can't find the time, you know, if I offered you, uh, you know, A million dollars for every workout you did.
I can guarantee you that you would find the time for it. It's just how important do you make this stuff to you? Because we all have the time in some way. You know, there's some people that turn up to an hour class, but they only do half an hour because that's, that's all they can do, but they still turn up.
Your health is worth more than a million dollars. Your health is worth, and your life is, and your, you know, family and, and all the things that are important to you around you to keep up with. All more than that, we just need to start valuing it in that way and knowing that that's why we are, we're doing this and we're, we're moving.
So I'm going to love yous and leave yous. And I look forward to hearing from you or if this has helped you in any way, if you suddenly feel a little bit more motivated, um, you know, or we're ready to get ourselves started. So let me know how, what you think and how we go. Okay. Bye.