Weightview Weightloss Blog

Motivation is defined as a feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behavior.

In the United States we are not lacking for motivational materials: we have an abundance of motivational speakers, motivational books, motivational tapes, and motivational programs. There are enough books written on motivation to fill a library.  With all this information on motivation:

From a health stand point, why then are so many Americans obese and a great number of Americans suffering from mental disorders?

From a commitment standpoint, why do 76-82% of people who begin an exercise program drop out?

There are so many variables as to why some succeed in their goals and others don’t.  The answer is obviously complicated and once again lies within each individual person.  It doesn’t really matter why the majority of people fail in their exercise goals, the question is, are you going to join the statistics or are you going to be the 18-24% that succeeds?

When my son Jordan was playing high school baseball, his commitment to the game was off the charts: he would get up at 5am every morning so he could go to the A’s complex and workout with his dad, he didn’t have sugar for 4 years because he felt it would hamper his performance, he did his baseball specific explosive training program religiously and took hundreds of ground balls and batting practice.  Every year he would write something inside the bill of his baseball cap.  It was something to the effect of “Remember how hard you worked to get here.”   If he got discouraged or had a bad at bat, he would read the inside of the cap.

I’d like you to take time right now and write down a note to yourself and put it on either your mirror or inside your gym bag.  You can write something like: “I am going to join the 18% of successful winning, overcoming people who look great and feel like a million bucks,  I will win.”   I can tell you personally that I am in your corner and you’ve got my vote.

There are two types of motivation:

1.  Extrinsic motivation comes from external forces
2.  Intrinsic motivation comes from within the person

In order to be successful with your fitness program, you want your life to have purpose and direction.  This must come from an innate desire to achieve the end result.  Extrinsic motivators will not produce permanent changes in your life, only you can do that. You need to have an enduring commitment to your program because there is no way that you will achieve your goals without having a strong commitment to them.