Exercise Motivation

“I just don’t have the motivation”, “I can't get motivated”, “I’m just not motivated”. These phrases are all too common when it comes to our relationship with exercise and they lend to a slow and steady decline in our physical health. There are two primary ways that we can circumvent this lack of motivation.

Establish a why

What is the reason behind your workouts? To maintain or increase your physical health? To stave off the ill effects of aging? To maintain your functionality so you can play unrestricted with your grandchildren? To get off your blood pressure medication? To reverse your type 2 diabetes? It doesn’t so much matter what it actually is but rather that you have one! “He who has a why to live for” Nietzsche said  “can bear almost any how.”

Rely on discipline, not motivation

Motivation is unreliable. If we rely solely on motivation we will be continually let down as motivation is fickle and fleeting. Rather we should develop and rely on discipline. Discipline doesn’t care if you are motivated, discipline doesn’t care if you stayed up too late or drank too much. Discipline doesn’t care if your kids kept you up all night or if you had to work late. No. Discipline answers the call when the phone rings. Robert Johnson put it best when he said “the world is run by those who show up”. So don’t wait for motivation; decide to make exercise a priority in your life and have the discipline to see it though!