Understanding how to use motivation for success

Have you lost the motivation to get results by this summer?

If you've answered "Yes, Steve!" to this question, a better understanding of what motivation truly is will help to move you back in the direction you desire.

There are two very basic types of motivation available to us: A) Extrinsic, or external motivation, and B) Intrinsic, or internal motivation. External motivators can work for a while, but have little long term results. True success comes from an understanding of internal motivation and how it affects us and how we can put it to work for us.

Grasping the true nature of the three levels of intrinsic motivation will teach you how to reach a new level of commitment that will stick for good!

The first stage is "fear-based motivation" which is an emotionally charged form of motivation.

In this stage you may fear getting any heavier. You may be frightened that you are starting to look like your mom. Maybe you had a health scare like a bad blood test result or recent illness.

The fear based stage is good in that it motivates you to do something about your situation. The problem is that it is not long lasting. Once you take action and the problem begins to fade, you resolve the fear. As the fear dissipates, you will either go back to your old behaviors and relapse or move up to the second stage of motivation.

The second stage of motivation is what we refer to as "feedback-based motivation."

Your motivation is fueled by all the various forms of feedback that you get from various outside factors: You see the scale needle plummeting to the left. Friends and family members turn their heads (toward you) when you walk in the room. Clothes are starting to slide off your body (time to put another notch in your belt!). Maybe members of the opposite sex are starting to notice and you dig the new attention.

The problem with feedback based motivation is that it has to end. What happens when your clothes can't get any looser? Friends and family members that complimented you early on quit commenting about your weight by the third or fourth time that they see you. What happens when the scale can't go any lower? As the feedback begins to diminish, your motivation may begin to fade and you will move to one of two places. You will either fall back to your old behaviors and gain your weight back, or you will move into the third stage of motivation.

The third stage of motivation is based on an innate or inner drive that encompasses the "big picture."

In this stage of motivation you come to understand that eating right and exercising isn't a "have to," it's simply a part of who you are and what you do.

When a person reaches this stage, (and this is the BEST stage to live) self motivation is based not on weight loss, but on living a lifestyle of health, fitness and wholeness. It's coming to terms with the fact that you are in control of your destiny and that each choice and decision has a consequence.

In this stage: You have an inner desire to continue with your program no matter what life throws your way. Your coping skills have become a natural part of you so that eating wrong and not exercising seems harder than eating right and training regularly.

Once you get to the third stage, you have arrived and success is relatively easy. In fact, it simply becomes a part of who you are and what you do. Your goal should simply be to get to that third stage, because permanent success is tough without it.

Make the decision TODAY, now in fact, to work toward getting to the third stage. It will take consistency and effort coupled with the right attitude, but it is a destination worth striving for.

God bless,
Steve