I’ll be honest: I’m struggling today. Here I am in my weekly chunk of time set aside for writing the blog and I’m struggling to get it done.
It’s not that there’s a shortage of ideas. I’ve got plenty. It’s not that I don’t want to do it. I definitely do.
It’s about motivation.
Dips in motivation are something we all face as we journey to become the best version of ourselves. It’s incredibly common when it comes to health and wellbeing. …Or any form of personal development for that matter.
Like my present predicament, I’d imagine the issue isn’t that you don’t know what to do. I’d wager that everyone reading this could list five things they could do today that would be a step toward improving the way they look, feel and perform in life.
It’s also probably not that you don’t want to look, feel and perform better. Sure some people are content, but I doubt you’d be reading this blog if you weren’t interested in some form of self-improvement.
So it seems we know what to do and we want to do it. …But we can’t get ourselves to follow through.
It’s about motivation.
One more step…
More accurately, it’s about state. For me, motivation is merely a state of mind. There are times when I’m fired up, enthusiastic and feeling positive about following through on my goals. Give me some free time and I’ll invest it oh-so-wisely.
I’m ‘in state’: I’m focussed and nothing is going to stop me. This is might be how you feel for those first few weeks of the new year.
Then something happens…
Resistance builds. Distractions appear. ‘Stuff’ gets in the way. ‘Shadow activities’ that aren’t nearly as impactful lead us astray. For instance, rather than writing the blog, I’ve been doing the dishes. And washing. Reading the football news. Having another cup of tea.
I’m no longer in state. I’m in a state!
This is when we might find ourselves questioning our goal. Maybe improving your diet this year isn’t that important after all? Maybe that commitment to exercise three times a week was too ambitious? Maybe I could just skip the blog for a week.
…And maybe this year will end up like every other.
Resistance is natural
The most important thing to recognise is that this Resistance is natural. If you try to improve at anything, you will feel it. Everybody does. It manifests in fear. It manifests in voices: our own self-talk and the naysayers around us. It manifests in distractions, ‘addictions’ and shadow activities. More than procrastination, it might be pain or discomfort or doubt.
Resistance is inevitable. When it crept up on me today. I knew it. I could feel it. I’ve been here before. In fact I felt it almost every day when I was writing my book.
I also know it can be overcome.
Getting back in state
The first step is to recognise the dip in motivation for what it is: Resistance. The second step is to get back in state.
Here are some ideas:
- Stop what you’re doing (it’s probably something unimportant and unhelpful).
- Move your body (change your physiology and you change your psychology).
- Watch, listen to or read something that fires you up. Like this.
- Reconnect to your ‘why’. Why did you begin in the first place?
- Ask yourself what you want.
- Commit to doing the bare minimum (e.g. if your goal is to exercise, exercise for 2 minutes).
Ok. Right now I commit to sitting my backside down at the computer and writing one sentence of this blog post. …wait a minute, what happened? 😉
BIG IDEA: When trying to improve, we all face dips in motivation.
TAKEAWAY: Recognise Resistance for what it is and take the steps to get yourself back in state.
ACTION STEP: Check your state. Feeling flat? Write a list of things you can do to fire yourself up again.
Always Keep Reaching!
Mike
Want more insights? Check out my book Energy Is Everything: Mindset, Nutrition & Exercise for the best version of you. Available NOW on Amazon!
