3 tips for overcoming a lack of motivation
Lack of motivation is something that almost everyone goes through at times and something we deal with a lot as trainers. Here are 3 tips to overcome this:
- 1. Stop making excuses.
So you’re feeling unmotivated? This is the time when we start hearing a lot of reasons and excuses for cancelled training sessions and some of us slacking from the gym. Here are the most common excuses we see and how to deal with them.
“I don’t have time” – We all manage to make time for the things that are important to us. Choose an activity that is low priority and cut it out or reduce the amount of time you spend doing it e.g. watching TV. A 15 minute H.I.I.T session is just 1% of your day so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue to make time for some sort of exercise.
“I’m too tired” – Working out actually gives you more energy! Working out during your lunch break will help you beat that afternoon tiredness at work as your body will release endorphins and have improved circulation, helping you to have a more productive afternoon.
“It’s too hard because I have kids” – Most gyms have a creche, at All4Fitness, we have free child minding for all of our 9am classes.
“I just don’t enjoy exercise”- Come and try our classes! Working out in a group is always fun and makes a very supportive environment. If you don’t enjoy classes, find something that you do enjoy. We now run yoga classes on Mondays and Thursdays, or you can ask your trainer to do some one on one boxing
2. Set both short and long term SMART goals.
Setting SMART(Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time limited) goals for yourself holds you accountable to a deadline in which a certain result is to be achieved. When it comes to deadlines, people tend to leave things until the last minute which is why it is important to set short term goals as well as long terms ones. For example, your long term goal might be to lose 3kg in six months, so you can break this down into short term goals of losing 500g each month, or 120g each week. Short term goals can even be as simple as making sure you do at least some form of exercise for 30mins each day
3. Be consistent.
No one feels super motivated all the time, not even coaches or professional athletes. Sometimes the best training sessions are the ones you don’t feel like doing, but you show up and get it done anyway. Being consistent when you’re not motivated stops you from falling behind so that when that you are feeling motivated, your still making progress rather than always trying to get back to where you were up to before you lost your motivation. You will always feel a greater sense of achievement when you reach your goals knowing that you had the self-discipline to see things through and didn’t just give up. It’s perfectly normal for motivation to come and go, but I’m sure you still brush your teeth every day, do your laundry, and pay your bills even if you don’t feel like it, right? You don’t need to feel motivated all the time, what’s more important than motivation is consistency! And when it comes to exercise, if you are more consistent, you will see more results, feel more motivated, and have more enjoyable training sessions.
