How do I get more motivated? If I had a nickel every time one of my group coaching members asked me this, you could probably hear my pockets jingling a mile away. But the value of what I’m about to tell you about increasing motivation is worth way more than a pocketful of nickels.
Something that I think a lot of people get wrong is that they need to feel motivated to start doing something. But the reality is that motivation follows action, not leads it. That means that you have to start doing something first, and then you’ll feel motivated to carry on.
Starting anything is hard. In my last Monthly Members Only Meetup, I taught my members the MAC framework. It helps to keep me on target, and it can help you, too:
M – Mindset
What is your mindset surrounding motivation? What does motivation mean to you?
The narrative that happens in your mind about motivation can make or break how motivated you feel to work toward your goals. Motivation is a feeling, just like happiness, sadness, joy, and hopefulness. And just like any feeling, there’s an ebb and flow to motivation. No one is happy or sad or joyful all the time. We’re not motivated all the time, either.
Motivation is NOT something you’re “missing.” It’s not something that others have and you don’t.
Building your motivation isn’t about being ready to jump into action all the time. But what you can do is to really dive into what motivation feels like to you. Does it make you feel good and excited? Did you get great results?
Once you get in the right mindset about motivation and understand what it really means, you can use Accountability and Consistency to help fuel those feelings.
A – Accountability
Accountability is tricky for a lot of people, myself included. That’s because it requires you to ask for help, tell people what you’re working on, and lean on others for support. For a lot of us, that just doesn’t come naturally.
But having that accountability is super motivating because it helps you keep your goals top of mind. You have people asking about your progress, reminding you to take the next step, and giving you the words of encouragement you need to hear.
There are a few things you can do to set up accountability. First, you can rely on your inner circle of friends. Tell them what you need from them, whether it’s a daily text, call, workout partner, or something else. Another thing you can try is joining a group. Get a ready-made group of accountability partners to keep you motivated.
C – Consistency
It’s simple: when you’re consistent, you get results. Results are motivating.
It’s hard to be consistent when you don’t have a clear picture of what you want to accomplish and how you’re going to accomplish them. That’s why coaching can be such a valuable asset when you want to achieve something.
The compounding effect over time of repetition and maintaining your motivation by seeing results will make you look like a magician ― everyone will wonder how you did it.
Hear the full MAC breakdown on Episode #44 of the Self Love & Sweat podcast.