Motivation In Two Forms

You've heard me say many times that motivation is a myth, that nobody is motivated all the time and that we just have to make the decision to make the change that makes the difference.

Well, that is true... to an extent.

We've all felt that exhilarating burst of energy that motivates and inspires us into action.

Whether it's making a call we know we need to get over & done with, or the call we've been looking forward to.

We're either scared or excited, and those two feelings share a lot in common, physiologically. Our interpretation is key. 

Sometimes it's just a matter of reframing to use our energy states to achieve the results we want.

Which brings me to how motivation works, in its two forms - Away From and Towards.

We are either motivated to move away from a troubling or painful situation or towards a sought-after or rewarding situation. They both serve a purpose and have their benefits.
Once you get clear on your "why", you can nail your "what".

Weight loss is one I hear a lot from clients; they were significantly overweight and they took steps to lose weight but as they got closer to their goal, they just didn't seem to have the motivation they started with.

Other clients started with a heath & fitness, rather than a weight loss, goal and they seemed to power on through from one goal to the next.

This is how Away From and Towards motivation works: when you're moving AWAY from pain & whatever it is you DON'T want, the further you get from it, the more comfortable you feel.

Almost like you're feet are far enough from the fire that you can relax, you don't have to do the work any more.

Away From motivation is a great way to START whatever changes you're looking to make.

You are really clear about what you don't want, but it's ultimately a negative motivation and lasting change takes more than that.

Towards motivation is the goal you have in your mind, your heart & your soul.

It drives you onwards even when you've made good progress because it's a shining, positive motivator even on days when you don't feel like it.
It literally pulls you towards your goal!

You may start out wanting to change your current health situation but what will keep you going once you've made those changes, is the thought of feeling even better, moving well when you're older & avoiding some of the common pitfalls of aging, like falls & immobility.

The other major benefit of Towards motivation is that it encourages you rather than criticises you, it brings you along rather than punishes you, it helps you rather than hurts you.

It really is the only way to maintain a kind, self-caring & consistent approach to your goals.

Being kind to yourself is about doing the good stuff, even when you don't feel like it.

Because you are so very worth it.

Imagine A Woman In Love With Herself

The past few weeks I have been posting stanzas to my Facebook page, from the gorgeous poem "Imagine a Woman in Love with Herself", by Patricia Lynn Reilly, encouraging women to celebrate and embrace our wisdom and wholeness.

Women and men alike have responded enthusiastically to the poem, as different stanzas resonated, at various times, relevant to life situations and experiences.

Here it is in it's entirety...


"Imagine a woman who believes it is right and good she is woman.
A woman who honors her experience and tells her stories.
Who refuses to carry the sins of others within her body and life.

Imagine a woman who has acknowledged the past's influence.
A woman who has walked through her past.
Who has healed into the present.

Imagine a woman in love with her own body.
A woman who believes her body is enough just as it is.
Who celebrates her body's rhythms and cycles as an exquisite resource.

Imagine a woman who embraces her sexuality as her own.
A woman who delights in pleasuring herself.
Who experiences her erotic sensations without shame or guilt.

Imagine a woman who honors the body of the Goddess in her changing body.
A woman who celebrated the accumulation of her years and her wisdom.
Who refuses to use her precious life-energy disguising the changes in her body and life.

Imagine a woman who has access to the full range of human emotion.
A woman who expresses her feelings clearly and directly.
Who allows them to pass through her as gracefully as a breath.

Imagine a woman who tells the truth.
A woman who trusts her experience of the world and expresses it.
Who refuses to defer to the thoughts, perceptions, and responses of others.

Imagine a woman who follows her creative impulses.
A woman who produces original creations.
Who refuses to color inside someone elses lines.

Imagine a woman who names her own gods.
A woman who imagines the divine in her own image and likeness.
Who designs a personal spirituality to inform her daily life.

Imagine a woman who refuses to surrender to gods, gurus, and higher powers.
A woman who has descended into her own inner life.
Who asserts her will in harmony with its impulses and instincts.

Imagine a woman who is interested in her own life.
A woman who embraces her life as teacher, healer, and challenge.
Who is grateful for the ordinary moments of beauty  and grace.

Imagine a woman who authors her own life.
A woman who trusts her inner sense of what is right for her.
Who refuses to twist her life out of shape to meet the expectations of others.

Imagine a woman who participates in her own life.
A woman who meets each challenge with creativity.
Who takes action on her own behalf with clarity and strength.

Imagine a woman who has crafted a fully formed solitude.
A woman who is available to herself.
Who chooses friends and lovers with the capacity to respect her solitude.

Imagine a woman who refuses to diminish her life so others will feel better.
A woman who brings the fullness of her years, experience and wisdom into each relationship.
Who expects others to be challenged and blessed by her presence in their lives.

Imagine a woman who assumes equality in her relationships.
A woman who no longer believes she is inferior to men and in need of their salvation.
Who has taken her rightful place beside them in the human community.

Imagine a woman who refuses to use her precious life-energy managing crisis and conflict.
A woman whose relationships deepen in satisfaction and contentment without depleting her.
Who chooses friends and lovers with the necessary skills to navigate through the challenges of life.

Imagine a woman who values the women in her life.
A woman who sits in circles of women.
Who is reminded of the truth about herself when she forgets.

Imagine a woman who has relinquished the desire for intellectual safety and approval.
A woman who makes a powerful statement with every word she speaks, every action she takes.
Who asserts to herself the right to reorder the world.

Imagine a woman whohas grown in knowledge and love of herself.
A woman who has vowed faithfulness to her own life and capacities.
Who remains loyal to herself. Regardless.

Imagine yourself as this woman."

Why I Run

A concerned friend once asked me why I run and what I was running from.

I found this an odd question, full of (her) assumptions about my motivation.

At the time I was training for a mini-triathlon so for me it was more about what I was working towards.
The question didn’t gel with my sense of why I was running, but as with all good questions, it got me really thinking about what I get from running and why I keep doing it.

Our bodies are made to run; in fact you and I wouldn’t be here now unless someone way back in our gene pool was better than running than the person behind, or the animal in from of them; they either got away or caught the food.

Let me be clear, I don’t consider myself a “proper runner”. There are people who can run faster and further than I can.

I’ll get out and train for a specific event and sometimes mix up my training program with a quick couple of kilometres, but I don’t run several times a week with any regularity.

Having since completed more than a few mini-triathlons and other running events, I am far more aware of the internal benefits they give me.
I feel an incredible sense of calm before a race, none of the nervous anticipation I sometimes experience in the weeks leading up to an event.
On race day there are no butterflies in my stomach, no thoughts of “what if I can’t”, or of anything going wrong; there’s just me, calm and centred, knowing that I have prepared for what lies ahead, that I will do what I can do and get through this race.
I don’t always have a specific time goal in mind other than finishing and I’m usually quite conservative with my estimate of how long an event will take – the first time.
Then it’s a matter of working out my own level of challenge, and I'm happy when I exceed my own expectations.

Running serves a purpose that is less about the distance covered or the time taken, and more about shifting the focus to my body to clear the busyness from my mind, getting in touch with the rhythm of my breath and doing something I previously thought impossible.

Believing I can do it is important otherwise I would never even begin and preparation is key.

Training for any event means putting in the physical work and each event takes place foremost in the mind - that’s what gives up first, not the legs or lungs.

I finished the Sydney City To Surf a couple of weeks ago and race day was the first time I’ve ever run 14 kilometres. I didn’t run the whole way; I walked when I needed to.

When the going got tough, I checked in with myself to see if I needed to stop and walk or if I just wanted to; answering THAT question honestly, every time, is why I was so proud of myself when I crossed the line, not because of the time but because I knew I had run my best race.

The Second Half of the Year

Welcome to the second half of the year.

It's a good time to pause and think about what you want to

Do

Be

Have

in 2011.

Make a plan, write a list or set a goal for yourself and take the small steps that lead you there.

Learn a new skill or study something that has always interested you, be more physically active to give yourself more energy and live your great life - start today.

It doesn't have to be a huge life-changing event.

When we work towards & acheive a goal, we get the confidence to know that we CAN do what we say we will, that we CAN do something we previously though impossible.

Expand the possibilities in YOUR life.

Chocolate Habits

Much of how we live our lives is the result of our habits and part of my job as a fitness trainer is to encourage people to swap habits that damage their bodies with new habits that support their health and fitness.

So it was a surprise to me that after three weeks away, I had changed some long-standing habits and have actually brought the changes home with me.

The biggest one has been getting up early, not really much of an achievement unless you're me.

Oh sure, I would get up early if I had to be somewhere, catch a plane or train a client, but I have never been a 'morning person' just for the sake of it.

Until now.

The other habit, that I may need to change back, is my new-found affection for confection; specifically chocolate.

I could take or leave chocolate before but since my intense schedule in New York, and needing to up my food intake, I had gotten used to pretty much eating what I wanted and even indulging in treats I normally wouldn't eat.

Someone I met in New York had asked, when hearing about my reason for being there, if I ate 900 calories a day, to which my friend who had seen me stuff my face all over town replied, "are you kidding? she eats about 900 calories an hour!"

Hilarious!

Seriously though, I do need to remember I am not working out two hours a day and that chocolate is not an everyday food.

What habits have you changed or would like to?

What's Your Plan for 2011?

It's the start of another year of training and after the indulgence of the Christmas and New Year break, time to get your fitness back on track for 2011.

Take some time out to reflect on all of your achievements in the past 12 months and congratulate yourself on meeting the targets you set for yourself in 2010.

If you still have goals that have not yet been met, ask yourself why this is the case:

• did they really match up to what you value and want for your life?
• did you have a clear, specific plan of action to achieve your goal?
• did you take the action necessary to reach your goal?
• were you committed to doing what was necessary even when you didn't feel like it?

Once you work out why your goal wasn't achieved you can reset this goal for 2011 with a clear understanding of what you can do to make it real this year.

We will talk about goals in the first few training sessions of the year and work together to define the actions and steps you can take to get there.

"The real reason for setting goals is to entice you to become the person it takes to achieve them" - Jim Rohn

Another Great Year - You Did It!

Thank you to all my wonderful clients for making it through another great year of training.

You have worked hard in your sessions and learned a lot about what you are capable of achieving.

You have made significant changes to your lifestyle, making daily exercise part of your life and enjoying the relaxation and stress-busting qualities it provides.

You have learned to appreciate the value of getting enough sleep and know that making time to relax is also an important part of your training.

You are more aware of being in your body and how it feels to move around in the world with more strength & confidence than ever before.

You are becoming ever more conscious of what foods you chose to nourish your body, how much water you need to drink each day, and how these choices really affect your energy levels.

Once you've experienced feeling great & having more energy, it is harder to revert to past habits that leave you feeling sluggish and low. Perhaps the most amazing change you have made this year is how you think about yourself.

When you started training you were unsure that you could do it, afraid you would get hurt or just plain didn't want to, but you have learned that you are strong, determined and can do more than you think you can.

You now take responsibility for your training and your life, and have given up the excuses and blaming others for your choices.

You have learned that no-one can do the work for you, and no-one is going to decide for you what to eat, what to drink or how & when to exercise.

You did all of this, not me.

I look forward to sharing more great fun & training with you in 2011.

It's Good To Have Goals

Do you sometimes feel you don't accomplish what you set out to do?

You start with great intentions and somehow they fall by the wayside after a day or two?

Can you imagine yourself having achieved your goal and feel the great feelings that accompany that achievement?

If getting off track with your goal has been a problem for you in the past, I recommend following a step by step approach with a plan you can measure.
Mini-goals leading you to your main goal will keep you enthusiastic about the process, rather than feeling overwhelmed by slow progress or trying to do too much as once.

Your goal needs to be about action: wanting to lose 10kg is not an action, but the meal planning and exercise schedule you will follow to get there, certainly is.

An effective goal will be both attainable and challenging: you CAN do it but you're not doing it right now, so small changes will reap big rewards as they become habits in your everyday life.

Your goal needs to be framed in a positive way: our brains respond far better to doing things rather than avoiding or restricting things, so work with your brain and feel good about what you're doing.

Having a time-limited and measurable goal is the only way to stay on track: having a time-limit helps you bring a sense of urgency to your goal, rather than an "oh that, yes, I'll get around to it soon" kind of attitude and measuring your progress regularly shows you just how well your efforts are paying off.

Finally, and this is the most important step WRITE IT DOWN!

The difference between a goal and an idea is an ACTION PLAN.
Rather than just talking about it or thinking about it, writing down your goal forces you to be very specific about the action you are taking and gives you a plan to follow along the way.

Refer to your goal regularly and revise if necessary so you are in charge of each step of your progress and proud of your results.

Stay positive and remind yourself of why you set this goal in the first place. Life's too short to spend it wishing your life was different - get out there and make it real!

Project YOU!

All of my wonderful clients are articulate, interesting, fabulous women who love life and have their individual passions.

Whether it's theater, shopping, family, tap-dancing, socialising with friends, Master Chef, or whatever you just love doing, it's time to put yourself in the picture and make your next project YOU.

You've all been training consistently for almost two months (give yourself credit for this), and have noticed changes in your energy levels, strength, flexibility & attitudes (more credit here).

Now that your training has become part of your life, you may already be planning the next stage of your health journey.... make yourself your new favourite project!

Just like any other event or project, work out where you want to end up, break up the steps into weekly & monthly goals and make them a priority in your life, the same way you have done with your training.

Make one change at a time, consolidate before moving on to the next one.
Remember that consistency beats intensity and believe that you really are worth it!

Time passes, it's what we do in that time that matters, so make sure you're using the time you have to create your best life (okay, now I sound like Oprah, but she's right ;)

Where will you be in 12 months time?

I can't wait to see your vision of YOU!

Can I say again how proud I am of all your efforts over the past couple of months.

You have made a commitment to your health and your Self that has amazing changes taking place in your mind, body and spirit; notice and enjoy the fruits of your good works!

Congratulations Magda!

If you've been following Magda Szubanski's Journey with Jenny (Craig), you'll be pleased to see how "Fit & Foxy" she's looking after about a year of commitment to her health.

Keep running the long race.

Make the manageable changes that pay big dividends for your future.

Challenge the negative thoughts, actions & people in your life that sabotage your goals

Congratulate yourself for every single thing you are doing to live your great life!