Find Your Why & Gratitude
You made your commitment to start a new way of eating or exercise routine. You have the best intentions and your heart is in it. You really do want this! Then the excitement wears off. The day to day decision making hits. Will I do this? Can I do this? Is it even working? What if all this effort doesn't work and you begin to talk yourself out of it. You find your motivation quickly disappearing. I hear you! Oh the struggle is real!
What I have found to help me and my clients through this is remembering the WHY. Why did you start this in the first place? Sometimes we make a goal or commitment and it remains too vague. "I want to lose weight." "I want to exercise more." These are not expressing your WHY. You need to dig a little deeper. Why do you want to lose weight? Why do you want to eat healthy? Maybe it's "I want a healthy relationship with food." "I want to be strong and healthy to be really present for my kids." Below is a link to download a worksheet to help you discover your WHY. Think of a goal and put it through the questions on the sheet. When you find your WHY, post it somewhere visible. Share it with a friend. Join a group that can cheer you on.
Another aspect of losing motivation is discouragement. That's when the negative self-talk starts to take you down. Or it's the comparison to someone else. It steals your joy. This is when a practice of gratitude is essential. When you can stop and write down one or two things you are grateful for, it will open the door to you seeing that it IS about progress, not perfection. Remember to celebrate the victories along the way. Maybe you have more energy. Maybe you feel empowered by making healthy choices for yourself. Maybe you're able to walk a bit further each time. Celebrate this! Look for ways to find gratitude and let go of comparison. The joy will return and you'll remember your WHY and be able to continue your progress to your goal.
You got this! I'm cheering you on! You are worth it.
P.S. If you'd like to read another article on the WHY x 5 worksheet, go here.