Whats your Motivation?

I believe that all training should have a purpose. It should be a means of building your body and mind, with the ultimate goal of being ready to perform at your best when it counts most. Whats your Motivation? – VertexFitness And one of the biggest failing points for most people is not getting their mind right; while you may be physically dialed in, not having mental focus will too often lead to sub-par performance and disappointment. The challenge I have encountered, and I am sure you have as well, is finding effective practical strategies in centering myself and getting the mind right.

Over the past decade or so, there has been a real transition in the general motivation mindset of the fitness industry. More than ever, we are all embracing a hardcore, tough-love, style motivation mindset in our training. There is nothing wrong with this type of motivation, there is just a life-span with it. Reason being, it is far too generic and rigid to be individualized to the unique needs of each person. For example, what if the hard and tough motivation doesn’t work, do you then go harder and tougher? Doing this can and probably will lead to some type of injury or burnout. It is known as motivational insanity, doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result.

The only true way to solve motivational problems is to understand the practical “how” behind effective motivation. Motivational words, positive encouragement, and tough-love phrases are actually not motivation in themselves. In fact, the words alone are meaningless! The key for words and phrases to be motivational derives from the connotation or significance they have with each person. To put it simple, things can only become motivational to you if they MEAN something to you. In fact, they take on an even greater sense of meaning if they were inspired from within your own mind.

Create your own motivational theme, a phrase or a few words that defines who you are and what you are about. Your theme should encompass not just the fitness side of things, but your whole life. Having your own motivational theme will allow you to perform at your best and push through struggle when taken to your breaking point both mentally and physically.