Hi Team, 

Feeling demotivated and struggling to get motivated? 
Getting frustrated at not progressing?

If yes, here’s five reasons you’re most likely not motivated momentary: 

1) YOU ONLY JUDGE PROGRESS THROUGH WEIGHT OR ONE MEASURE – There are many ways to measure progress such as; weight, body fat %, muscle mass, strength, body circumferences, confidence, progress is training, better sleep quality, etc.

If you only measure weight then you’re bound to become demotivated at some point as “progress isn’t linear”, therefore it won’t go in the right direction 52 weeks of the year. Period. Especially over the summer when generally we socialise more, eat later in the day (affects morning weight-ins), go on more holidays/weekends away, etc.   

Start utilising more measures than just weight. Think more holistically. If weight is all you’re interested in then you seriously need to revisit the word ‘health’ (physical, mental and social well-being). 

2) YOU’RE GOALS ARE POOR – Theres a skill to goal setting. People are lazy and poor with their goal setting. Please revisit your goals and ensure they are SMART:

– SPECIFIC to you and know one else
– MEASURABLE in some way shape of form
– ACHIEVABLE in that they are not impossible or hard to achieve
– RELEVANT to your end goal and target
– TIME-FRAMED on that there must be time frame set you want to achieve the goal in

Additionally, try to ensure you have an emotional attachment to your goal. Having this attachment helps when the going gets tough and gives you more purpose and reasoning behind meeting your goals.
 
3) YOU’RE ALL TALK, AND NO ACTION – Anyone can say they are going to do something. That’s so easy. There’s a huge difference between saying you’re going to do something, and actually doing it. For me, generally the difference is mindset and an action plan.

I hate myself when I say I’m going to do something and don’t follow through with it. I feel disappointed and embarrassed with myself. I pride myself on being someone who walks the walk rather than talking the talk. Try to be this way and respect your own words and statements. If not, in the end know one will believe you, and you won’t believe yourself either. 

Also, ensure you have an action plan. Goals are useless without a plan of action to help you get from a to b. For example, ensure going in to each week you know what days you will be training, what time you’re aiming to get to sleep by, what you will be eating, etc. Whatever you’re struggling with, set a goal, and create a plan of action. Doing these things will give you so much motivation and intent. 

4) YOU DEVALUE YOUR HEALTH – Just because you’re not ‘ON IT’ at the moment and therefore feel demotivated is that really a reason to binge, decrease your exercise/training levels, stay up too late every night, drink excessively every weekend?

If this is you, then you’re abusing your body, devaluing your health and how do you expect to become motivated once again when you’re treating your body recklessly?

When you’re not ‘ON IT’ still train and exercise because its a part of your life, and you do it for your health. Eat and drink sensibly because that fuels your body and keeps it performing near to its optimum. Of course the summer is a time to socialise more, have later nights, drink more, etc, but don’t take the p*ss out of your body. 

5) YOU’RE MENTALLY WEAK – If you’re eating and drinking things you don’t want to, if you’re missing training sessions and not moving enough on a daily basis, if you’re not staying hydrating, if the things you are doing (not doing) are getting you down then get on top of it. Sometimes it really is as simple as that. 

I can write an email, and it can resonate with you, but only you can sort yourself out. Stop waiting for September, stop waiting for someone else to tell you to sort yourself out, and get a grip. 

If you miss the bus and the next bus is an hour away do you wait, or do you walk? Of course you walk! Stop waiting for the next bus as it may not come for a while! 

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Hopefully those five points have given you some motivation, or will help you re-ignite the motivation levels you had a few months ago leading up to the summer. 

To finish todays article I want to talk about why its okay not to progress.

The summer is a period when generally people don’t progress due to holidays, more socialising, an increase in alcohol consumption, and generally people try to enjoy as much as the good weather as possible. This isn’t an issue, and Im the same. However, taking 10 steps backwards because you totally forget and disregard your training, nutrition and lifestyle is.

Use the summer as a time to maintain and be proud of what you’ve achieved so far this year. Maintaining is often looked at as a negative thing which s ridiculous. Maintaining your health and fitness isn’t easy and is very much a good thing. 

In business theres a term called ‘blast and cruise’ and I like to apply it to training.

Blasting is when you’re on it and all your energy is going in to certain projects. Cruising is when you reserve your energy and do the minimum required in certain projects. You can’t always blast otherwise you burn-out, however if you always cruise nothing will change. 

In regards to training, nutrition and lifestyle its great to blast and cruise too. When blasting create new habits which improve your health and fitness levels and move you towards your goals. This could be introducing a third or forth training session a week, or utilising a sleep app to monitor your app and then using certain methods to improve your sleep quality. When cruising keep up these habits with minimum effort and enjoy other parts of life. Keep training and monitoring your sleep but don’t try to improve it. 

Enjoy cruising for the summer and don’t worry too much about progressing just make sure you’re not regressing too much as this will frustrate and upset you in September/October. 

Tips for CRUISING: Train 2-3 times a week in the gym, get your cardio from activities you enjoy whether it be walking, swimming, cycling, specific classes, etc, eat sensibly and don’t be obsessive or too strict, keep an eye on sleep quality and energy levels too ensure they do not diminish, enjoy some alcoholic beverages within reason, take a moment to be mindful of all you have achieve this year with regards to your health and fitness. 

Over and out!