Find Motivation Through Goal Setting
What is it that separates someone who is motivated to exercise and one who isn't? The answer is a clear sets of goals. Everybody who is consistently motivated to exercise on a day-to-day basis has one or more sets of goals in mind. In his book, Success Is a Choice, Rick Pitino says, "Goals are our day-by-day blueprint that provide achievable targets for incremental improvement." Setting goals will allow you to make your vision an achievable possibility.
Paul Myer once said, "No one ever accomplishes anything of consequence without a goal...goal setting is the strongest human force for self-motivation." What is one of the greatest motivators you can think of? Success! Who isn't motivated when they experience success?
For example, you envision yourself losing 25 pounds and looking fantastic for your upcoming vacation to an island in the Caribbean. At first, this seems like it may be an insurmountable task because you have so much weight to lose and you love to eat pizza. When you look at this task and break it down into smaller more manageable steps (each step being a goal), you are increasing your chances of being successful. Why? Because each time you accomplish a small goal, you experience success and this success creates motivation to continue.
These small goals can be as simple as working out three times a week, cutting back on simple carbohydrates, or adding several minutes to your treadmill walk each week. By accomplishing small goals little by little you are taking a big step to realizing your vision of being 25 pounds lighter on the beach in Aruba.
I found a great illustration that describes how succeeding a little at a time can lead to a big accomplishment. The illustration comes from Vince Lombardi, Jr. and John Baucom's book, Baby Steps to Success. It goes like this.
Many professional football coaches have had a dream of winning an NFL championship. This resulted in the goal of winning their division. There was an even smaller goal of winning a certain number of games, which was then subdivided into winning several particular games. This resulted from goals of making touchdowns and extra points. That goal was reduced to making a series of first downs and ultimately the necessity of gaining two or three yards on a particular play.
So how does a football team win a championship? They start by first having the simple goal gaining a few yards per play. Success from doing this empowers them to work toward the next goal. The goal of getting a first down. And so on.
Finding motivation to exercise is very similar. You first need to set some achievable goals and then experience success with those goals. This pattern will provide a positive flow of energy and motivation to help you become consistent with exercise. Maybe even something you look forward to! Let's look at how you can set goals that become the stepping-stones to realizing your vision.
