Getting in Touch with Your “Why Bother?”

What we are really talking about here is MOTIVATION! Anytime we choose to make a change in our lives and are faced with starting with ‘Step One’ of our journey, motivation is necessary to carry us forward. This is required until we make sufficient progress and have confidence and routines in place to carry this change into the future and make it sustainable.

At the start, our sense of confidence is tenuous and access to a felt since of success may seem rather nebulous…a mere idea for which our connection comes in and out of focus quite regularly.

So, what can we do to keep firmly grounded in this connection while we are waiting for the results of our actions to sustain our motivation? One way to do this is tethering the idea of this future result (e.g., fat loss, return to health) to our values, lived experience, and connection to others.

We’ve all made lists in one form or another to organize ourselves and accomplish tasks, moving things in our minds from ideas into concrete steps.  We can apply this strategy at the beginning of our fat loss journey as well.

Take a moment to sit down and write out all the reasons you should bother with all the new health behaviors and changes that go into returning to a healthy body composition. Here are some categories that may help you get started:

  • Appearance: Feeling confident about our outward presentation, wearing clothing we love and feel good in, really seeing ourselves in a mirror without all the negativity and conflict.
  • Engagement in Life: Going on vacations, to the pool or beach, airplane, or recreational activities that create pleasure, meaning and connection. Feeling more at ease with how and what we feed ourselves can lead to feeling more comfortable eating and being active with others. We may be more willing to introduce novel experiences in our lives (e.g., learning to dance, climb, participate in a walk/run) which adds to the richness and meaning in our lives as well as protects our brain health.
  • Health: lowered blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, less risk for diabetes or better management of this condition, more energy and stamina.
  • Relationships: Better understanding what our true needs and wants really are, and finding the balance between meeting those needs and others’ needs. When confident, we are more likely to seek new relationships or let go of relationships we were too fearful to admit were not serving us.
  • Physical Activity: Engaging in activities such as sports, walking with friends, keeping up with the pace of life, using the stairs over an elevator, getting up and down from the floor.
  • Mood: More optimistic, confident, assertive (e.g., standing up for ourselves in the face of criticism or questioning), and a sense of control which can impact our experience of stress, anxiety, and down moods. Finding the courage to make our health a priority and succeeding in this provides an anchor in our lived experience that overlaps on all other aspects of our lives and our sense of what is possible.
  • Work: Finding our passion again for the work we do, or maybe even finding a new job that better meets our talents and is more financially rewarding. Returning to hobbies or exploring new options that may be more attainable with our new sense of self.  

NEXT: Add photos of yourself at a healthy weight that reminds you of how that felt and what was possible, and/or of others (family, friends, significant others, pets) that love and care about you and will benefit as a result of you regaining your health and confidence.  Maybe there are symbols or metaphors that inspire you in an instant without all the wordiness (e.g., butterfly’s transformation, tree of life, etc.). Additionally, you may be inspired by images of the beach, an activity, a medal from a previous sporting event you earned, musical instruments, paint brushes or other creative endeavors you are prone to enjoy when healthy and happy.

FINALLY: Place your list, individual index cards with reasons/images, or other CUES (visual or auditory reminders to engage in a new task while you are trying to make it a habit…forgetting to engage in a plan can derail progress) where you will see them every day.  Then, make sure you not only read them, but pause and feel the feeling they ignite. This is the birth place of motivation!

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