motivation

I was thinking on my way to work this morning (I know, you saw the smoke...). But really, I was reflecting on some progress that I have been trying to make in terms of healthy eating and exercise and my motivation level. Then I started to think about all the ways that people, myself included, motivate themselves to stay healthy and several questions came to mind:

Why do we feel a need to "motivate" ourselves to stay healthy? It seems absurb. Why is that not innate?

Next, why do we seek out help in motivating ourselves through groups (like weight watchers, or a personal trainer or an on-line forum)? Have we lost the skill to self-motivate?

How do some people become motivators for others and some people become the motivatees?

I'm not proclaiming to know the answers to all of these questions. But I've been making some observations. I'm a big proponent of whole foods (i.e. non processed foods) and I feel like Americans in general eat way too much processed foods, ridiculous amounts of it. If you don't think so, think about what you ate today. Did more than half your food come out of a package? If not, congratulations - you're on your way to breaking the cycle. My theory is that many times we think we are being healthy and therefore the motivation to stay healthy is innate. We think we are doing the right things, but many of us are not.

In terms of group versus self motivation, people who appear to be positive, confident and enjoy life seem to be better self motivators (in general, I'm not trying to make this observation universally). These individuals also seem to be better motivators of others. You know the ones, they are always smiling talking about how great life is. They're full of all those great ideas, like "wow, it's really nice out. Want to go for a 10 mile run with me?!?!" It sounds so exciting, how could you resist. A mile in, your legs feel like spaghetti and your lung has lodged itself in your throat.

Those whose sky is always falling tend to need motivating and I guess that's not such a bad thing. Many have found a way to make money by setting up on-line motivational forums, groups and workout buddies. And many people seem to do reasonably well if they are accountable not only to themselves but to a group helping them find some motivation. This proves to be useful for the short-term, but in the end, the only one who you will ever need to be accountable to in terms of health is yourself.

I think we can all take a lesson from the self-motivators out there - set goals that are achievable and a few that might be a stretch, keep your sights on the goal, stay positive, don't be afraid to make mistakes and most of all - don't give up.

*k*