“Nothing will work unless you do.” Maya Angelou

Motivation is like a prized golden ticket allowing us access to the “best” in our lives when this supposed force lies noticeably within us. And when our motivation flags and fizzles out we give ourselves “permission” to take a pass on what we said we wanted to do for ourselves. 

We give so much of our personal power to the “feeling” of being or not being motivated. As if this is out of our reach when we’ve deemed our energy- to be or not to be- on a given day or time. The action of being motivated and doing something is strongly connected to our feelings and thoughts. 

Your thoughts and feelings while real – do not ever need to run the trajectory or your life. Yes, this is true!

Is motivation a feeling?

The actions you take can be motivated by your feelings.The actions themselves are not your feelings. A feeling only has the power you give to your thoughts. 

Motivation..an internal process… is what drives our  feelings into actions – by the power of your choice – you choosing to do or not to do something. 

So… – motivation is an action and a process that gets its fuel by our thoughts,feelings and emotions. 

When we take a little time to nurture and get to know our feelings then we can respond instead of reacting to our feelings! 

Here are five top tips to keep you aligned with emotions and motivation  when you “feel” less than motivated.

Be kind to yourself. Using guilt-”shoulding”-blame or any other negative gems to take action will not work for the longhaul or really short term either. Negative self-talk is game ending and de-motivating because it doesn’t tap into positive energy which comes from a place of kindness-care and compassion.

Get personal

A study done in the UK found that people who have a big picture goal such as I want to lose weight and feel better are likely going to quit before seeing any gains because the “goal” isnt personalized. Personalize your exercise by making it S.M.A.R.T –  specific, measurable,attainable,realistic and timely.  Example. “Im going to work out on Monday and Wednesday at 8am for 30 minutes going for a walk in my neighborhood.”  This has specific days of the week, time of day, length of exercise and what kind of exercise. 

Create and cultivate the habit of exercise. Make an agreement with yourself after spending time reflecting on your  internal “why” for wanting to exercise. Wear your ”why” and take it with you  each time you exercise so you are personally invested.  Now plan on doing this consistently and regularly to build this habit as part of your everyday routine. Small steps done daily create abundant momentum.

Keep it simple and short. Make this a feel good win by starting with something simple and in a smaller time increment like 15-30 minutes. You’ll feel good that you took care of yourself. If you want to add in longer workout time this will be easy because you’ve set yourself up by making small gains while feeling energized by taking care of your body and mind.

If it doesn’t work, change it! If you are not enthusiastic about your initial exercise plan, make a change to do something else.  Try different things to know what you like and brings you joy. Then stick with this so you own it!  Think of yourself as a team player. You -yourself and you!. Take care of yourself as you would a team member who needs your support. Extend that to you. 

What you are doing for you goes beyond the physicality of exercise? This plays out in all areas of your life from career to personal.