Motivation
There comes a point in everyone’s life where you run out of motivation, or the things that once motivated you don’t anymore. Often times we use a “goal” as motivation, this could be anything from an upcoming wedding, vacation, reunion, becoming newly single, etc. The problem with using these things as motivation is that, at some point, all of these goals pass. Once they do, the inevitable will happen and we start to fall off the wagon again. All of a sudden we are sitting on the couch and now need something new to motivate us to get off it.
I personally struggle with motivation. For a long time I was using external factors to motivate me. First it was being single, then I met Jeremy and that stopped being the motivation. I then used my trip to the Dominican in the spring, that came and went and I stopped being motivated. I then turned to my wedding only to find that the constant up and down with motivated and this trend I had needed to end. After a long talk with my yoga mentor, I have started to realize something big about myself. I am using external motivation and I am not being true to myself.
So, at this point in your reading you are probably thinking how is using external motivation not being true to you? Well, I will tell you, external motivation is a selfish reason to do something. What I was essentially saying in using those reasons as motivation, was: I want to be skinny because I am single and want to attract men to me, I want to be a really good yogi because I have an upcoming workshop and want to look good in front of the people there, and I want to workout like crazy and be nice and toned because my wedding is coming up and I want to look great in pictures that will last a lifetime. It’s not to say that these are not good reasons to be motivated, what I am trying to say is these were the ONLY reason I was motivated.
Being true to yourself means that you don’t need other people’s opinions to satisfy you. So if you drop other people’s opinions of you, and you lose your external motivation, then how do you become motivated to get off the couch and do something? You find something that motivated you that is not attached to anything else. For me, my motivation has shifted, what used to be looking good in my wedding dress has no shifted to being in my wedding dress. My motivation to eat healthy and be the best me possible is because I want to live a long healthy life; I want to make it down the aisle, and down it again at my 25th wedding anniversary. I want to be here to see my children grow old, and have Jeremy grow old with me; I want to be healthy and enjoy doing the yoga that I love.
So, take a deep breath. Grab your journal, and be honest with yourself. What are you using to motivate you? What do you need to motivate you? What happens when you are out of ideas to motivate you? Are you reasons attached to vanity? Are your reasons true to you? Give it some thought!
Jennifer Toole
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