God help me, I need motivation!

I have always lacked when it comes to motivation for getting my workout in each day. I will gladly run on the basketball or tennis court for hours. I am always willing to give my all for an intense 2-hour ultimate Frisbee match or a great game of flag football. However, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve awoken in the morning and thought to myself… “I just can’t wait to work out today!” It gets worse too; the closer I get to the time I’ve set aside for my workout. It becomes the last thing I want to do, just before I am supposed to start. Of course, by the time I’m finishing up my session I am so high from the endorphins and feel so good that I’m thrilled that I spent my time pushing myself.

Now that I’ve admitted that I entirely lack an interior motivation for working out, allow me to share 3 things that have absolutely helped to keep me on track.

Strike while the fire is hot!

No matter what time of the day it is, if I have any flicker of an inclination to workout, I try to drop whatever I’m doing and get my workout mission in ASAP. Some days this is impossible due to my schedule and my career. However, I know that if I don’t get my workout in when I sense a little desire, the probability that I will miss my workout all together increases by about 50%. So I bend over backwards at those times to get away and workout. I keep spare clothes at work and slide downstairs to an empty room or I quickly run home during lunch and get started. Capitalizing on those moments in the day is huge for me. Fortunately my BCx workout routines can be done almost anywhere with a little modification. I would rather do a modified workout routine than no workout at all.

If you feel inclined towards working out right now, by all means, stop reading this and go do it!

I’m that guy who joined an online fitness community!

I joined an online forum and have settled into a wonderful online fitness community made up of twitter, facebook, and as I mentioned, an online forum. These are people, just like me, who thrive on conversations and accountability to motivate them to get their workouts done. Trainers, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, priests, etc. from all over the country and the world trade messages back and forth in regards to how their fitness is going on any given day. As well, several of us post our workout routines and our details in regards to intensity levels on the BCx forum at Fitstudio. If it’s 9AM and I know I’m already completely lacking motivation, I tweet out to a couple friends and let them know that I need them to hold me accountable that day. Sometimes I just shout ‘help’ across facebook. @cborders and I have exchanged countless messages in this regard even though I’ve never actually ‘met’ him. The same holds true for @bonniepfiester @stevepfiester and @joycecherrier. Just a few of the influential and wonderful people I share my fitness life with now.

Maybe you loathe the idea of another online community. Then join a gym, hire a trainer, join a bike group or find some community you can connect with. Do something so that you aren’t ‘going it alone’.

I’ve become an extraordinary encourager!

One of the greatest motivational tools that I’ve found is to tap into the ‘encourager’ within me. I try to respond to every post, every tweet, every status update, every email, every phone call, every text with the utmost attention and encouragement possible. Often, I will sit down and randomly pick 3 people that I then shoot a message off to in hopes of giving a little encouragement. I try not to be trite but to be as authentic as I possibly can because that’s what I appreciate from people. When I receive encouraging messages it absolutely has a positive, immediate affect on me. I realized quickly that I could have the same affect on others. It is humbling to think that I can actually have a positive impact on someone’s life with a few short sentences coupled with genuine care. This in turn acts as extra motivation for me personally. Knowing that I’ve encouraged someone else that day helps to motivate me to get a good workout in as well.

These three measures have done more to motivate me and make sure I get some semblance of a fitness routine in my life than anything else so far. I hope you can find some help in what I’ve shared or that it sparks some creative ideas within your own being that can become a motivation for your fitness.

@padreBradley <(that’s an invitation to connect)

(the little girl in this photo is motivation too)