1 Motivation style
A good way to improve your motivation is to identify your motivation style. Our motivation tends to be driven in two ways: moving towards something or away from something, and it can really help to know which one tends to be you. So, towards people tend to be motivated by all the things achieving their goal will give them in the future.
For instance, in terms of weight loss, this could be ‘I’ll feel fitter and healthier, be able to fit into those jeans I love, feel better about myself, get a boyfriend, feel more confident etc. And away people tend to be motivated more by things they want to move away from such as I don’t want to feel out of breath and unhealthy, I’m worried if I don’t lose weight I’ll suffer health issues, I’m tired of not looking after myself better or such things like that. And there’s no right or wrong motivation, it just depends on you, and the way you think about or picture things. So getting clear on that can really help.
2 Create a really clear image of achieving your goal
Once you’ve worked out if you’re a towards or away from person and thought about the various things that you want to move towards or away from, it can help to create a really clear picture in your mind of what you will see, hear, feel when you imagine achieving your goal. The more specific you can be, the better – build your picture using all your senses!
3 Up-date any beliefs about your goal that could trip you up
Do a check on whether you’ve got any out-dated beliefs about losing weight that could be holding you back. For example, lots of people say they want to lose weight, but can have sub-conscious thoughts that stop them eg, comfort eating – what will replace that instead of food? Or loss of social life because food plays a big part and they’re secretly scared of losing that or people who grew up being told they must eat everything on their plate etc.
4 Think about previous times when you maintained your motivation
Also do a check on all the times you’ve tried to lose weight before – what was happening when this was going really well that you could do more of now? And what was happening when you tended to lose motivation and found it harder – how can you minimise those times to improve your motivation now.
5 State your goal in the positive
Really state whatever your goal is in the positive and be very specific. So, instead of making a general statement like ‘I want to lose weight’, turn that on its head and state it in the positive eg, ‘I want to reach my ideal weight of x in 3 months so that I feel fitter and healthier’ or whatever your chosen motivation was!
6 Take small daily steps
Do something manageable each day relating to your goal. So in terms of wanting to feel fitter and healthier, introduce a new habit eg, drink an extra glass of water a day, walk 10 minutes, go to bed an hour earlier.
7 Make your goal a priority
As the old saying goes ‘you get what you focus on’ so don’t get side-tracked or put off by other people! Instead, prioritise your goal and keep in mind the image you created of what it will feel like when you look back having achieved it in, say, 3 months from now!