Understanding Your Motivation For Greater Success

If you're like most people on a health and fitness program, there's going to come a time when you do notice that your motivational levels start to lag behind and all of a sudden, getting to the gym to do those workouts just doesn't seem so interesting any longer nor does dishing up yet another serving of chicken, brown rice, and steamed vegetables.

Instead, you'd rather lie on the couch with a good movie or book and help yourself to a back of Doritos and soda.

But, is this going to get you towards your end results? Maintaining motivation to stick with your program is going to be key for success and the first step in making sure that you do stay motivated is taking the time to learn what type of motivation you tend to have.

Different people will find that various things do keep them motivated so by understanding what makes you 'tick', you can see better overall success.

Let's have a look at a few things that you need to know about your motivational type.

What Are Your Goals

The very first thing that you can do to clue in to what type of motivation you have is to have a good look at the goals you have set for yourself.

Are most of your goals related to looking better and fitting into a certain dress or pant size? Or, are your goals more focused on being healthier, feeling more energetic, and just improving your overall well-being?

If your goals are the former, you're more likely to be externally motivated as you want to seek validation from the outside.

You are on a quest to make your body look better so that others sit up and take notice. Even if it isn't so much about making others notice you and instead you just want to feel better about the way you look, you're still focused on that outside image, thus your motivation is classified as external.

On the other hand, if you have the goals of improving your energy and well-being, then you're more internally motivated.

Rather than being motivated on how the exercise program and diet plan is going to change your appearance, you're more focused on how it's going to make you feel. You are internally motivated and are only concerned by the impacts of this program for yourself.

Those who are externally motivated do tend to have a higher drop-off rate than those who are internally motivated because their goals aren't as long-term. While having more energy is an ongoing process, getting to a size 6 is something that you'll attain and then move on.

Once you reach that goal, if that means you drop off your workout program, it won't be long before you're pushing a size 8 once again. Trying to set both internal and external goals will be your best game plan.

Do You Prefer Friendship Motivation Over Power Motivation

Second, you also need to determine the type of motivational push you prefer. If you've ever worked with a personal trainer, this will be fairly easy to determine.

Are you someone who prefers to have someone in a more powerful position directing you on what to do?

Or, are you someone who prefers a more friendly atmosphere where the trainer acts more like an encouraging friend that a dictator?

The answer to this question will give you a clue as to what type of training environment you should place yourself in. If you are going to hire a personal trainer or are thinking about joining a group fitness class, it will be important that the trainer does match your preferred motivational style.

If they don't, this could in fact be a disaster to your motivational levels.

So there are two main things that you should assess when trying to figure out what motivates you. Each person will have different types of motivation and you might even find that you have a combination of both.

But, when you can get your motivational type figured out then you'll be better able to make sure that your program and any rewards you give yourself match this motivational style so that you can stick with it over the long term.

Those who don't ever look to see what motivates them often experience a feeling of disconnect with their desire to continue at some point or another and won't see nearly the same degree of success as those who are in touch with this element of themselves.

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