We cannot rely solely on motivation to get us to where we want to be in the long term.
I believe that everything worth having requires some level of investment (usually time, money or emotion) – if it’s something which requires a short term investment, then motivation may work just fine (e.g. buying something, being a good friend) – but sticking to something longer term (e.g. learning to drive, studying for an exam, fat loss) is likely to require more than just motivation…
A lot of the time, the end goal is the driver – you imagine yourself driving your own car and not spending a fortune on lessons, you imagine passing the exam and bagging that dream job, you imagine feeling confident on holiday… But the motivation to achieve that goal can come and go because sometimes the goal feels to far away in the future to be real. We crave instant gratification instead.
“Yeah I want my bikini body but I’d rather eat that ice cream right now”
Or
“I just had a rubbish driving lesson, I’m not going to book another for a few weeks’
Or
“I’ve had a stressful week, I’m going to go out and party instead of studying”
Sometimes motivation disappears. Sometimes that’s ok. But for fat loss, when we are aiming for consistency, not being ‘motivated’ can often set us back.
Having a plan in mind can really help with this. It’s almost like a promise you yourself, especially if you write it down! I find that Sunday is a great time to do this and plan the week ahead. Write down your goals (to remind yourself of them), write down which workouts you are going to do and when. Write down and plan what you are going to eat.
Planning in this way takes a lot of the daily mental load away… everything you need to do has already been considered and thought through, you just need to execute the plan. An added beenfit of this is knowing that you’ll be staying on track to achieve your goals if you do. WIN WIN!
Some easily implementable ideas you can do NOW…
- Take 10 mins on a Sunday to plan the week ahead
- Get a weekly fridge planner and put workouts/meals on there
- Write your shopping list based on which meals you are going to cook (don’t just wing it!)
- Put your workouts in your diary (or shared diary, or work diary!) and treat like an important meeting with yourself – don’t miss it or cancel it.
- Share your plans with someone – get some accountability!
Please give this a try – I do all of the above, every week and it really works!
Don’t rely solely on motivation. Set your intentions, do it like you mean it. Stick to the promises you make to yourself. 🫶🏼
