After returning home to Australia I’ve had to restart and attempt to get back on track with everything. So yep, that means throwing away the daily local beer (and piña colada’s); substituting pizzas, pastas, and gelato for smarter options; and even getting back into the gym.
It’s hard. Nay, it’s damn hard.
The diminishing of new-found habits whilst abroad is a very slow journey. But, it’s a journey nonetheless, and I’m willing to see it through – despite what I’ve noticed of myself lately.
So, I’ve noticed that I’m a lot slower than what I was, I’m also a lot weaker. I feel less energetic (hello midday naps) and overall, I’m a lot less motivated (hello stopping at the ninth rep). I of course get sore easier and, I’m definitely a lot more “out of shape” than what I was prior to leaving for 100 plus days.
But hey, all of this is inevitable when returning to or beginning training, right? It’s a given. We’re not all born as gifted as Kal-El, are we?
It’s too easy to call it quits and go back to some of my new-found European habits when in this mood and state. But screw that. That would be too easy, right? And easy, well, it seems to never be the way to go about anything.
Hell, if it was easy to do anything, then we wouldn’t have our high-level Olympic athletes. We wouldn’t have mouth-watering meals prepared by top chefs. We wouldn’t have awe-inspiring Parkour dudes. And, we wouldn’t even have our favourite books, TV shows, or movies.
So yep, that would mean no Usain Bolt’s to gawk at, no tasty sushi to attempt to wield chopsticks to, no cool YouTube videos to procrastinate with, and that’s right, no sequel after prequel after reboot after pre-sequel of all your fave movies.
Perhaps you’re in the same boat as me at this time of year though? It feels like 2015 is too close to worry about beginning or restarting something, and with the festive season just around the corner, we may as well just pull up now and leave it to the New Year to rectify the “damage”.
But again, screw that.
It is certainly true that motivation can be low at this time of year. The superficial lust for a beach-ready body doesn’t always cut if for everyone. And with the Christmas cake, pavlova, trifle and alcohol consumption about to kick into overdrive, what the hell is the point? The progress we could make surely doesn’t mean shit when we will come into contact with far too many temptations.
That may be true, but, just like I said a couple of weeks back, there is still more than enough time to get after it this year. (Over 1400 hours to be exact.) And hey, what better time than anytime to build some good habits? The now literally can never be a bad time to begin, continue, or restart with any good intentions or habits in life. And sometimes, all it takes, is just a little ol’ fashioned, motivation.
But, what even is motivation? It’s hard to pinpoint as everyone’s perspective of motivation can be so diverse. Some people put it down to just making it to the weekend where they can let their hair down. Whilst others prefer to use the mere feat of living longer as theirs.
Though, no matter who you are, or how you look at it, the most highly sought after form of motivation seems to simply be results.
But, to get results, you first have to put in place the necessary tools to reach and see them. No one wants to work their ass off for so long on anything with absolutely nothing to show for it. That would be insane. And depressing.
So today, my friends, I want to provide you with three tips that can help you along your path and keep you from insanity. Beginning with one super necessary tip.
TIP ONE: MEASURING.
Measure everything.
If you’re after weight loss or some form of #gainz, hit the scales, use a measuring tape to record your body’s numbers, take photos of where you’re at now, write down what you’re currently doing, and even use food scales or measuring cups to gain an insight into just how much you’re actually eating.
This is by far one of the best forms of motivation that will push you along in your journey.
How are we supposed to know we’re even on our way if we never measure where we’re at or what we’re doing? There’s nothing worse than embarking down a path for certain wanted results, getting a certain distance, and looking back and realizing we have nothing to compare it to other than our trusty calendars.
When progress slows or even halts at certain periods on our journey, it’s hard to stay positive when we have nothing to check back on and make sure we’re improving.
But, by measuring, it can provide us with the perfect kick and focus to keep us from throwing it all away when and if a plateau arises.
Although, simply keeping track of things isn’t always the only thing. Sometimes it takes more than simple bits of text, numbers and photos to keep us on track. And when it is required, what (or should I say who?) better to look to, than a close friend, partner, or family member?
TIP TWO: ACCOUNTABILITY.
Without a doubt, this can be one huge necessity when restarting, beginning or even continuing on a journey. If we’ve got someone that is there to check in on us constantly, then our willingness to not faulter is always so present.
Having someone that is genuinely on our side and wants us to succeed is one of the perfect motivation tools. And when it’s someone that is also wanting to embark on a similar journey, then we can’t go wrong. Who better to check in on us than the person that we, ourselves are checking in on too, right?
By making sure that it is someone we can trust and who is brutally honest, it can be a much better form of accountability than just having a “yeah, you are doing well…” (…when we’re not) kind of person. Especially when we know we’ve been faultering excessively and last night’s dinner consisted of the Colonels latest variety pack.
Having the knowledge of what we’re doing, and then having someone say to us that we are doing well, can indeed have a hugely negative impact on our journey. Something we definitely don’t want.
But, it is possible to remedy this situation if we do happen to choose the wrong person for the gig. And we can do this by making sure they check in on us daily or weekly. We can also tell them to ask us constantly about our food and what exercise we have been performing. And, we can make sure they take note of and gauge our moods, emotions, and fatigue levels.
It may seem quite extreme having someone there keeping us on track through a magnifying glass, but when we’re low on energy and focus for what we want, motivation can start to slow down and become quite scarce. And the last thing we want to do is pull the pin on it all.
TIP THREE: KEEP THE BALL ROLLIN’, NO MATTER WHAT.
“Don’t quit just because you feel tired today!” – Hayden Perno, sometime over the past four to five years, for sure.
Being tired, sore, and unmotivated is too common when progression starts to feel dangerously slow, or our ideal state of being feels too damn far away. After jumping on the scales for two weeks in a row and seeing the numbers drop only to find on our third week that it barely shifts, thoughts like What’s the point in any of this? can come about.
But, I know, as well as you do, that going back to old habits and throwing it all away at the slightest reason, is completely backwards. We’re both smart enough to realise this, and when we’re feeling this way, the best thing we can do is put ourselves forward to where we want to be, not just what we want.
We have to think towards everything that encompasses what we want. Our feelings, our perspective, our confidence, our freedom, our physicality’s – it all requires some thought.
We can all be guilty of thinking what we want to be obtainable when we haven’t even dealt with the elephant in the room, our emotions. As soon as we control this, the sooner we can be on the path to wherever it is that we want to be.
Goals aren’t just singular things that we write down or dream of, but more an entire state of being. Think about it — how would you feel when you reached something? How would you see yourself? How would your closest friends and family see you? It all matters.
Getting on and staying on track doesn’t have to be thought of as an unattainable feat. That is just too extreme. Rather thinking about it in the light of just by taking some necessary tips to get us there, like measuring, being kept accountable, and not giving in to our emotions, we can indeed reach it.
Do you or someone you know need some official accountability?
If you are in the Illawarra region of NSW and need some real accountability and a little kick to get back up top, drop me a line at: https://haydenperno.com/consultation-form/ or via my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pernoperformance
Not in the Illawarra region? No problem. My online coaching may be for you. Click here to see if we’re a match: https://haydenperno.com/online-coaching/