What Drives You?

The alarm clock goes off and you avoid hitting snooze. You actually wake up and drive to your nearest fitness center. Or your lunch break rolls around and instead of eating loads of carbs and junk with coworkers, you are out taking a walk. Or it’s 9:00 p.m., you’ve had a long day and you finally got your infant to sleep, yet you go into your home gym and proceed to get in a workout. Why? Do you even know? Maybe it’s time for some introspection; the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.

Knowing what drives or motivates you is helpful to being consistent with your training and nutrition. Some common motivators for being healthy are; looking good, feeling good, reduction of certain symptoms of a medical condition, financial savings through insurance incentive programs & lowered medical bills, improved quality of life through the ability to engage in activities you enjoy with or without friends/family.

How is it helpful to understand your inner drive? Because when you do want to hit snooze, or skip your lunch break walk, or just watch TV once your infant is asleep, you can REMIND yourself of the deeper motivation you have. And you can compare the two behaviors you are choosing between and evaluate which one you truly want:

• Sleep or a workout that will truly energize

• Junk food or health food and a walk

• TV or a workout that winds down your day and prepares your for the next one

If you are simply working out because you read an article and thought that this new Zumba class sounded fun, that’s fine, but there is no real deeper motivation there. And when life interferes with the Zumba class, you are going to pick life over Zumba everytime. If however, your friend just was diagnosed with type two diabetes and you are prediabetic, then suddenly being active takes on a whole new significance.

If you tried to eat gluten-free because its very popular right now and you heard about it from Dr. Oz, as soon as a tasty wheat flour based dessert passed in front of your nose, you will question your decision.

If, on the other hand, you are tired of purchasing new clothes due to an expanding waistline and you simply want to enjoy a walk with your spouse without being out of breath, then gluten-free can be one of several ways to choose healthier foods, reduce carbohydrate intake and lose weight.

If you started lifting weights because they were in your basement and you felt bad they were not being used you probably won’t stick with it very long. Let’s be honest, there's lots of other stuff in our basement’s not being used as well...and in our sheds and storage lockers. But, if your joints ache and you have trouble getting up the steps, then beginning a resistance training regime will very likely improve achy joints and strengthen your legs to get up stairs and out of chairs.

Look, there is nothing wrong with trying new things because you read an article, watched a TV program, etc. However, I am simply trying to point out that without deeper motivation, these trials will likely remain just that; trials. They will not form new habits that shape your life moving forward.

To build a habit, there must be a deeper reason. And you should identify and understand that reason. Thus, you can combat the attacks that will inevitably come as life gets in the way.

Let’s review that first paragraph again and add in some hypothetical thought processes:

“The alarm clock goes off and you avoid hitting snooze. You actually wake up and drive to your nearest fitness center.” - You know that 15 extra minutes of sleep will not work any miracles in your body, especially not compared to the metabolic and hormonal boost you will receive from a good session of weights and/or cardio. You have a grandchild on the way that you’d like to be strong enough to toss in the air like you used to do with your kids when they were young. Furthermore, you want to be able to take them up the ol’ hiking path and frankly, you are not sure if you could make it right now. So to the gym it is!

“Your lunch break rolls around and instead of eating loads of carbs and junk with coworkers, you are out taking a walk.” - You’ve packed your lunch and it’s full of healthy food. In addition to the health benefits it is also quite a substantial financial savings compared to going out to eat with your coworkers. The fresh air revives you for the second half of your day and you feel productive. The healthy food and calories burnt from your walk have helped you lose some weight and your clothes are fitting better and your doctor says he may lower your blood pressure medication.

“It’s 9:00 p.m., you’ve had a long day and you finally got your infant to sleep, yet you go into your home gym and proceed to get in a workout.” - Sure there’s a great TV show on, but c’mon, it’s 2018, you don’t have to watch TV when it’s "on" do you? You’ve read that staring at screens can be stimulating before going to bed. And while exercise can be mildly stimulating as well, you’ve found that you get a much more restful night of sleep after exercise than you ever did falling asleep to your TV shows. The restful sleep has allowed you to be enthused and energetic during your time with your infant.

Without having spent the time identifying what drives you, those scenarios above may have went in the opposite direction. And we know that behaviors tend to build upon one another whether for good or for bad. I urge you now, if you have not done so already, to sit down and write it out: Who, What, Why you are motivated?

And do not stop there. Identify how you can take that motivation and transform it into real life behaviors and who can help you along the way.

Me? I am motivated to eat well because a healthy diet goes a long way towards prevent costly medical conditions down the road. And let’s face it, I am a cheapskate. I am also motivated to eat well, because after having eaten well for years, I am can tell you that you feel better and have more energy when you do. I am motivated to workout because the science supports that weight training improves muscle and bone mass; two of the most significant factors of aging. I love being able to go on hard hikes with my wife and two boys. And I want to be in great shape for my future grandchildren.

And yes, I admit it, I want to look good, too. Is that so wrong? ; )