10 tips to stay motivated this winter
While Pilates benefits you in so many ways, like any activity in life, it takes motivation to continue practising it. What motivates you? If you don’t know, you’re must be wondering how some people seem to have a fire within them, constantly driving them on to do what they want. Are you facing difficulties or challenges that make it seemingly impossible to do what you want to do? Are you letting your circumstances force you to practice Pilates? You might find it amazing that there are people that have a driving force behind them, giving them the energy to overcome any obstacle. Don’t you want to join them?
First, you need to realise that there are two types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. When you’re intrinsically motivated, you’re doing something that comes naturally to you, like your job or a favourite hobby. Extrinsic motivation, on the other hand, is when you’re doing something because you have to. Maybe you don’t find any joy in jogging, but because a dear friend asked you to go along, you feel trapped.
As you can see, you need to be intrinsically motivated, so you can finally stop torturing yourself! It’s often said that it takes 21 days to make a new habit. Here are 10 tips to offer you even more help to become motivated!
- Create specific reasons
Fitness can never just be about how you look. Such reasons never last. Getting ready for summer might have you hitting the gym throughout the last month of the winter, but what are you going to do when the season ends?
You need at least 3 specific reasons for why exercise is important to you. Maybe it’s about increasing your energy, decreasing your depression, sleeping better, easing your pain, or preventing the risk of cancer. With such major reasons, you’ll have a greater need to exercise. Just wanting to lose weight or get stronger is not enough. If failing to exercise means not having energy for doing what you want, or worsening any pain you’re experiencing, you’ll think twice about putting off a session of Pilates. Reasons like these will affect how you live your life!
- Tell others about your commitments
It’s a proven fact; when we make promises to ourselves we just break them. When you make a promise to your friends as well, you now not only have to worry about letting yourself down, but everyone else at well. Maybe you can let yourself down plenty of times, but you’ll be more reluctant to break a promise to someone else. Maybe you’ll sign up for a Pilates class with a group of friends or schedule a cycling session from Monday to Friday with 3 or more people to make sure you stay committed when you feel like slacking off.
- Reward yourself
It’s been scientifically proven that a string of habits that end in a reward create a positive habit! An example could be planning a trip to the gym after work, then later, working out at the gym and after this, watching your favourite TV show. In a scientific study, it’s been shown that habits consist of 3 things, triggers, routines and rewards. The trigger could be your alarm for getting up to go to a Pilates class, the routine: packing a favourite book in for after class, then finally the reward: diving into that exciting story that’s waiting for you. Even if you don’t have any love for the exercise, when your brain begins to associate the pleasure of your book with the habit of working out, you’re on track to turn this all into intrinsic motivation!
- Set up measurable goals
Be specific with your goals. Simply saying, “I want to strengthen my core”, won’t get you anywhere. How strong do you want your core to be? Why do you need it to be strong? By when do you plan to achieve this? It would be better to have plan like this: I will get a stronger core to put less pressure on my back by booking Pilates classes until the end of August. Once you have a plan like this, write it down and put it where you won’t be able to miss it.
- Get yourself some new clothes
If you’re spending on clothes you’ll only wear a few times, yet don’t put the same emphasis on what you’ll be wearing multiple times per week, it’s no wonder you might struggle to attend a Pilates class. By getting new clothes for your workouts, you’ll look better and by doing so, feel more motivated. When you get yourself new exercise attire, you’re making health and fitness part of who you are.
- Write about your feelings
Create a journal about how you feel after a workout. At first, it might seem to offer few benefits, but keep on writing, and you’ll experience the results! Maybe your tummy looks flatter this morning or you’re feeling more relaxed at work, write it all down in your journal! When you feel like taking a day off from exercise, read through your journal to remind yourself about all the positive effects that came with working out.
- Measure your progress
Checking your weight on the scale can be disheartening but checking the mirror after two weeks and measuring your waist will show you how far you have come. Progress on its own is a powerful motivator. A photo from before will wake you up to your reality while recording your tape measurements will be of great benefit on your journey to greater health and fitness.
- Experiment with other exercise programs
To you, jogging is one of the worst parts of life but that doesn’t mean that all exercise is bad. You might find yourself tempted to think so, but it isn’t. An exercise program’s out there that’s tailored for you. It’s rare to find the class, instructor or trail that excites and invigorates you on your first attempt, but you’ll find it soon enough. When you have, don’t ever stop, but make it part of your life, at least 3 days a week.
- Work on all the areas of health
Exercising should not be the only habit if you want to be well rounded. To achieve this, you need to work on your sleep, nutrition, hydration, stress and happiness. Getting motivated in all the other areas helps you to exercise because a list of accomplishments across the board will boost your confidence. Make commitments to eat organic and healthier food so that you start to take note of what’s going into your body. Make a plan to get to bed before 10 pm and create a consequence if you don’t, like cancelling your plans to take a swim the next day. Do this and more to get yourself more conscious about your health and fitness.
- Build your vision
Seeing where you want to be genuinely helps you to achieve it! There are successful people in the world that do various activities to build and strengthen their visions. Some meditate while others set daily or weekly goals,create vision boards or Pinterest boards. By doing this, they get their minds to work to help them achieve their visions. Do the same, by writing, drawing it or saving it on your computer, to fill your mind with the vision of what you want to be.
Try any of these tips or all of them and make a note of the day you start and check back after 21 days to see what you’ve changed! The worst that could happen is nothing, while the best that could happen is becoming intrinsically motivated to have a life defined by health and fitness.
