REASONS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Lately I've had a lot of people ask me for some tips on finding motivation for getting in shape and accomplishing fitness goals. It’s no secret that healthy eating and exercising on a regular basis is the logical thing to do. However, because we are humans, we do not make decisions based on logic. All the medical data, exercise and nutritional information out there telling us why we should exercise isn’t going to get us moving because it is based on logical facts found through case studies. When it comes down to it, all these facts and data don’t mean much to us because, well, they are just facts and data. This makes it easy to talk ourselves out of any physical activity.

I have found that most people are driven by emotion rather than logic. Therefore it is important to find an emotional stimulus that gets you going (and keeps you going when the sweat and tears start to come). The only way you are going to find that emotional stimulus is to look deep within yourself. When you look within yourself you won’t find facts or data, you’ll find reasons!

Our reasons for taking care of our health need to be more important than the alternative. It doesn't matter what friends, family, doctor, society, Oprah, Dr. Oz or anyone else says you should do. Your health and fitness is a personal quest. Unless you have a deep, burning desire within you to get your body moving, all the logic in the world won’t work for you as motivation.

Getting on track with your health is not about seeing a certain number on the scale. It's about the empowerment that accomplishing that goal will give you. It’s not about having a BMI within a certain range that the doctor says is “normal”. It’s about having energy and vitality to spend time with your kids, grandkids, spouse, friends, etc. It's not about fitting into a certain size of jeans, right? It's about the feeling you get when you button those jeans up, check yourself out in the mirror and say “damn, I look good!” Your reasons for health need to be meaningful to YOU, and only YOU.

So, you want some motivation to get in the best shape of your life? The first thing you’ve got to do is look within yourself. When you have strong enough reasons, the motivation will appear. Then you can approach your workouts with passion, purpose and strong intent. My best to all of you!