Motivation Rant

What motivates you?

I have heard an almost infinite number of answers to that question, both in and out of the gym. People are motivated by a myriad of different things in their lives, but a rare few have a certain type of motivation that comes within themselves. Things like an upcoming family reunion, a vacation to the beach, a challenge with a friend, or an order from the doctor can all be good starting points for positive change, but they are not enough to carry one through for the long haul. The most powerful source of motivation to improve your body and your overall well-being has to come from a deep desire within to be the best you that you can be. When eating well gets tougher and tougher, your workouts get harder, and external stress is weighing on you, it can be easy to just say "forget it" if your only motivation is to look good in your skinny jeans and shut your friends up. What gets us through the hard parts of a fitness or weight-loss journey is wanting to be better for yourself. We all need to learn to put our own well-being first in life sometimes and just drown out all the external noise that tells us we should be eating and drinking with friends, or skipping the gym for something more fun, or whatever else comes up that could be used as an excuse to slack or give up. If one is truly motivated to be better, healthier, stronger, leaner, fitter, and happier with themself, nothing can stop them. You find the time to prepare good meals. You make the time to go to the gym. You put in 100% effort and nothing less will do, because you know that going through the motions is just wasting time. Internally motivated people are few and far between, but you can pick them out easily from a crowd. They are the ones who change for the better week after week and accept nothing less than perfection from themselves. I suggest that each of us take a few minutes to look inside and find that source of passion and harness it to achieve success. It's not easy, but you're worth it.

Steve Decker