When you don't feel motivated about a task or plan to change your habits, it can be the biggest obstacle to achieving your goals. If you're ready to get serious about making a change, it's important to acknowledge any motivational challenges, get proactive, and create a plan to help yourself get going.
Motivation is personal. The exact strategies that work for you might not work for someone else. But there is a specific framework and steps that seem to work for most people.
First, figure out the real reason you want to achieve your goal. You need to go deeper than the "what." We all know "what" we want. This is too surface-level to be the basis of your goal. You need to get clear on your "why." To get truly remarkable results, you need to focus here.
I recommend a process called the "5 whys". Once you have set your goal, ask yourself why that goal is important to you. And then ask yourself why that answer is important to you. Keep going until you feel you have come to the real reason you "need" to achieve your goal. It's important that this reason be aligned with your values.
For example, I have seen a client's goal of wanting to lose 20 lbs turn into, "I find I'm having trouble keeping up with my kids and family, and I feel like it's time to get healthier by losing some weight." It's the "why" that fuels the motivation.
Clients who work through this process feel more engaged, empowered, and positive about the changes they are making, and that is truly the recipe they need to believe in themselves and succeed.
The second step is to create awareness. Journaling or tracking for a week without making changes to your current routine can provide some incredible insights into where you are now. It's important to know where you are starting from so that you can make a list of the habits you want to add or change to achieve your goals. These habits will be your daily focus.
Finally, invest in yourself. You are worth it. Work with a nutritionist or join a community group or challenge to kickstart your progress. A group or practitioner can help give you the confidence that you are setting the right goals and are on the right track. They can also be there to celebrate your wins so you keep going when it gets hard.
Everyone struggles with motivation issues occasionally. It's never easy to start something new or work towards a goal. To set yourself up for success, do the work to create awareness of where you are and why you want to achieve your goal and engage a support community so that you can ask for help when you need it.
