By Eli Follick
I have learned that many of my clients don’t consider their future health, don’t have realistic, achievable goals, and are unprepared for upsets that could come at any time. However, with just small changes in habits and lifestyle, it’s often easier than people think to enhance health, feel and do better, and even reduce medical care expenses. Sometimes, a little motivation is all that’s needed to see considerable improvement.
How to Build Motivation
Set a clear, achievable goal that has purpose. What will you gain from it, or what would you lose without achieving it? What is your personal expectation? An individual’s self-concept is crucial to his/her health and well-being. One’s self-image can encourage personal growth. That is part of generating motivation. You have to decide what you need to do to make it happen. Generalities such as, “I will give up snacking before bedtime,” typically don’t work. A statement such as, “I will not buy cookies at the market when I shop on Wednesday,” is more likely to make it possible to attain the goal of giving up snacking.
Make your goal part of your routine. It can be anything that keeps you away from the cookies: an appropriate dinner at the right time; helping your child with a project; doing laundry; sweeping the garage.
Positive self talk can also help. Instead of saying, “I can’t,” say, “I know I can do this.” If this doesn’t sound like it will work, I suggest you try it for a few days and see what happens. Regularly review your goals and your progress. Progress is a great motivator. Continue to set new goals – what you want to achieve next week and next month. It’s important not to plan too far into the future as it is usually more difficult to wait long periods to achieve a goal. Take it one goal at a time and success is more likely. It’s important to succeed and make the healthy goal a permanent part of your daily life’s activity.
What Do You Do If You Lose Motivation
Setbacks are normal. Review your goals, and assess if they are realistic and achievable within the time you selected. You may need to break down your goals into more achievable parts. Don’t think of a setback as failure. Evaluate it as an element that you need to reconfigure to attain success, and use the lack of achievement as a learning tool. What happened to prevent attaining success? What can I do to eliminate the problem that prevented me from being successful?A Critical Part of This Process
When you have succeeded at a goal, it is helpful to reward yourself. I suggest something meaningful that you would enjoy for a decent amount of time, as opposed to, say, a fast-food trip. Perhaps buy a pair of smaller-sized pants, a better lamp for the living room, a subscription to a local gym. When you look back at all you succeeded in doing to help yourself, you will be so proud of yourself that you’ll be smiling for a long time.
