Vision + Goals = Motivation
Our crazy, busy lives are moving targets. Weight loss success isn’t.
Week 3 of the “10-Week, 10-Pound Challenge” is all about keeping your eyes on the prize. And even though we’re framing this as a specific goal (10-pound weight loss) to be achieved over a specific period of time (10-weeks), the long-range “prize” is so much bigger than that: a healthier, happier life!
This week in The Challenge we’re going to talk about the underappreciated importance of creating a vision for where you’re going, and the strategic importance of setting goals.
It is these two things combined that are the wellspring of motivation.
Here’s what’s coming in Week 3:
Monday: Vision + goals = motivation.
Tuesday: Cross-training and the triathlon.
Wednesday: Create a vision and it will pull you.
Thursday: Set non scale-oriented goals; you will be amazed at how this helps your weight loss!
Friday: Podcast of Week 3’s action items + more answers to questions posed at “Ask Marilyn” button.
If your dieting history is anything like mine was, Week 3 is the time when your motivation is waning. Sure, you want to be thinner, but sometimes that slips your mind when you see an In-N-Out Burger on the horizon. Or your co-workers invite you to happy hour. Or you stumble across a pint of Ben & Jerry’s that was hidden behind the frozen veggies. What’s a little freezer-burn when you’re desperate?
Where does that ever-elusive motivation go when you’re faced with these temptations?
We commonly think of motivation as something that sort of ebbs and flows, but motivation isn’t an external force that washes over you. Likewise, it doesn’t roll out like the tide.
Motivation comes from within.
Motivation comes from the vision you have for where you are headed combined with the very specific goals you set to get you there. And even though is sounds kind of “whoo whoo,” it’s a positive energy that will pull you forward.
To succeed at weight loss, you cannot be running away from something negative; you must be moving toward something positive. That’s why you cannot hate yourself thin.
Vision + goals = motivation.
If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read the blogs I wrote about motivation. “Motivation Comes and Goes Like a Bad Mood” speaks to that idea of the ebb and flow: it is the answer to the pointless question, “Do I feel like working out today?” And “Motivation In Action” is how you keep your mojo flowing.
For sure, check in tomorrow when Try-it Tuesday will look at the triathlon and (spoiler alert!) how the whole vision + goals thing works for me.
The winner of last week’s Rubbermaid Lunchblox™ storage system is “10-Week, 10-Pound Challenge” participant Alice, so congratulations to her! If that’s not you, have no fear: this week’s giveaway is a super-de-duper iPod shuffle and a waterproof headset to go with it – coincidentally perfect for triathlon training! HA! Pure genius!
We’re settling in to The Challenge and our new habits. Having a vision and specific, achievable goals – even amidst our crazy, hectic lives – will keep us motivated and moving forward!
C’mon, we got this!