1. Lack of a compelling vision
This is one of the most striking parts of motivation which people often overlook. Without a clear, engaging and energising vision of yourself as you want to be, you lack the internal drive to get to it. It’s about seeing a new possibility, shaping yourself in the future and being inspired to see who you are as a healthier, fitter person. Your vision is the picture of the best that you can be. You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.
2. Lack of a compelling reason
Many people don’t identify their real reason for wanting to exercise, get fitter or lose weight, in other words they don’t ask themselves ‘Why does this matter to me?’ You may need to counter your answer with another ‘why’ several times to dig out the true reason. Your reasons are your desires and your desires are what drive you, not willpower or anything else. And your desires will sustain you when the going gets tough.
3. Lack of importance
Lots of people feel they want to exercise but they don’t do it. If you really want something then you need to make it important. People often view exercise as something they should be doing, and if they are not doing it, the more they don’t do it the worse it feels. Saying ‘I should exercise’ diminishes its importance in our minds as well as the chances of us doing it. We know we don’t always do the things we should. There are many techniques that can change how you feel about exercise so it becomes something you want to do. Even by changing the words you say to yourself, instead of saying ‘I should exercise’ say I need to, I want to, I can, I must…whichever one motivates you most.
4. Lack of enough emotional pain
People are motivated to change when they decide they’ve had enough. The pain of staying where they are is just too great. Pain and pleasure are the things that drive us. We move away from what we perceive as painful and towards what we perceive as pleasurable. This often works against us if we focus on the short term. The potential pleasure of an attractive, fit body can be outweighed by the ‘pain’ (or more rightly fear of pain) of exercising. You can reset the links by attaching pain to your old behaviour unhealthy behaviours and pleasure to the new behaviours e.g. exercising. Through repetition and getting in touch with the feelings and sensations, you can condition any new behaviour including exercise, so that it becomes automatic (Neuro-associate conditioning, Anthony Robbins)
5. Lack of a goal, strategy, plan
Having a clear goal or outcome in mind is part of the equation for success. Then it requires a plan to implement it, strategies to negotiate times when things don’t go to plan and action. A lot of the time people have an intention to exercise a certain number of times a week and just hope to cram it in somewhere on top of everything else. Before they know it the 3 or 4 times a week becomes once or not all. Those people who write down where they want to get to, when and how they are going to implement exercise are 10 times more likely to do it. Just by scheduling your exercise in your diary you create space for yourself, both physically and mentally. And very importantly plan your rewards for each success, no matter how small.
6. Lack of support
This can be a major factor in why some people give up in pursuing any goal. The right support in any form is immensely helpful for both moral support and accountability. Think of the people you know who could give you the right motivational support.
7. Lack of belief in self or goal
Lack of belief causes many people to give up their fitness efforts or never begin in the first place. Sometimes it leads people to completely sabotage themselves. It is often related to worthiness, not feeling worthy of successfully achieving your goal or being your best. There is a lot more to it and much you can do to develop an unshakeable belief in yourself, and it is certainly worth investing time to do it.
An unshakeable belief, thinking like a winner, is more than just words or thoughts, “it is the engine that drives you forward and powers you over any obstacle” (Dr Spackman, Neuroscientist).
Everyone deserves to be successful, champion yourself as you would your best friend, and stay close to people who can help you to see yourself at your highest and best.
