“So close, no matter how far..
Couldn’t be much more from the heart..
Forever trusting who we are..
And nothing else matters”
-Nothing Else Matters, Metallica
Last article we covered Goals and Scheduling; this edition we are going to cover the intangible and often unused practices of Motivation and Attitude. Motivation and attitude are concepts that are often considered to be unconscious and passive. By treating these concepts to be unconscious and passive, you give up control of your motivation and attitude. If you’re reading this, then you are the person who never lets anything in your life act unconsciously or passively, so why would you let your motivation and attitude be exceptions to this? Far too many people, especially those in the gym, have a reactive response with their motivation and attitude when it comes to their health. Psychologists call this “looking in the rear view mirror”; it’s when you do something in the present to make up for what you did in the past.
Being reactive with your motivation and attitude is a problematic situation that lends itself to a fast downward spiral. We see this as a prevalent scenario with “crash dieters”. Here is an example:
Jane parties hard over the weekend.
Jane goes into the gym Monday regretting her decisions over the weekend.
Jane trains outside her body’s physical means, causing increased levels of cortisol.
Jane also decides to under-eat to make up for food that she ate over the weekend; increasing cortisol even more, fluctuating insulin levels, and starting adrenal fatigue.
Jane continues this pattern throughout the week and is too tired to really do anything by the weekend.
This is not a fantasy, and it is very common. It’s more common than most people care to admit or to realize. I am not going to get into this as a nutritional debate because that is not what this article is about. But you can easily see that when you approach your life from a “rear view mirror” attitude you go nowhere. Are there any secrets to using motivation and attitude pro-actively? Yes and its going to sound easier than you might think. I am going to start with attitude and finish up with motivation.
Attitude: everyone has one and no one likes anyone else’s. So why is it so important to understand attitude for training? Is there a significant transfer of consciously using your attitude for training? This should be an obvious “Yes!” Though, it is so hard for most people to consciously control their attitude and it is because of one major reason, EGO! There, I said it. Ego is the biggest factor that needs to be held in check in order for one to have conscious control over your mental attitude. Ladies, I understand that men have more of an ego than you think you do, but lets be honest: you’re not all that thrilled when another girl offers her opinion on your looks or fashion sense. Our ego drags our attitude by a leash and is very reluctant to let go.
To eliminate your ego from the equation (which is tough at first), you must understand that you are the only one that matters when it comes to your health and fitness, unless you are on a sports team. If you allow yourself to disconnect from what everyone else “thinks” about you and your fitness achievements, you will no longer have your ego ruling your attitude or your life for that matter. A tool that has worked for me in getting my ego out the way is that I chant to myself during my mobility warm-up in the beginning of my workout. My chant is very simple and it seems very corny but what I chant is: “This is my workout. I do this for me and me only.” Go ahead and laugh, I know it may seem lame, but I stay very focused and humble throughout my workout. I also have lost interest in what most people think about my workout, and how my workout is changing me. I have a handful of people whose opinions matter very much to me and I know their thoughts are offered with great love and care. I encourage everyone to have at least 2 people they can use for feedback. These people should have a good understanding of your goals and be familiar enough with fitness to offer an educated opinion.
Motivation is a concept that most trainees know exists, yet it’s only the elite who practice it regularly. I believe motivation is the most important concept of the mental aspect of training. When motivation is applied to present and future events, it has unlimited potential. It is the situation however, that too many people look to their “rear view mirror” for their motivation, our earlier example of Jane looking at her weekend to validate her choices for the rest of the week. You must live in the now and live for the future. What has happened has happened. You cannot change the past, you can only learn from it. I can go on with the clichés, but I would rather give you some things that have never failed me or the clients I have used them on.
Ok, here is your first quiz. With a show of hands, how many of you reading this article remember me mentioning a “Vision Board”? Why aren’t more of you raising your hands? Why are you raising your hands because an article said so in the first place? For those who don’t remember, I mentioned it when I was talking about goals. Now I am going to take the time to explain how a “Vision Board” will not only improve your ability to reach your goals, but it will help with your motivation and attitude as well. For a minute, close your eyes and imagine yourself stepping outside of your body and looking at your life how you want it to be. Go ahead, I am not going anywhere. (Jeopardy theme plays in the background). Did you do it? Honestly? GOOD! You see the “Vision Board” is nothing more then a visual representation of your thoughts, feelings, wants and desires. The purpose of the board is to give you vivid visual reminders of what your goals are, thus contributing to your undying motivation and harvesting a positive mental attitude that will complete these goals quicker than you could imagine.
I am not suggesting that this is something that will change your life overnight, nor is this some crazy mystical ritual that requires you to give up your faith and beliefs. Truth-be-told, many of the world’s most successful people have used the “Vision Board” in one form or another and have called it many different names. I encourage all who to decided to take on the practice of a “Vision Board” to make it as big, vibrant and inspiring as you want it to be. “How do you make a ‘Vision Board’?” It’s quite simple really; all you will need is a sheet of heavy construction paper or some other form of paper (I have heard of people using butcher’s paper for this and cardboard). You will also need old/used newspapers, magazines or other forms of printed media. You then start to look through these various prints looking for words, pictures, phrases and anything else that represents your goals, wants and desires. It seems to me that they work best in color and it seem that the larger the picture the more vivid the reminder. Now this is the most important part, hang it up somewhere you will see it before you go to bed and wake up in the morning. The more often you see it, the more often you are reminded of these things. It is also essential that you take the time and make this board from scratch using your own hands. I am not all that sure if the same effect comes of using Photoshop to make your “Vision Board” but if you know how, try it!
That does it for Mental Training. I can cover many different subtopics that relate to the main themes of Goals, Scheduling, Motivation and Attitude, but it would take the fun out of Q/A from you the reader.
Our next installment will cover Nutrition. One of the biggest topics we will cover on Nutrition is the importance of understanding the relationship of chewing and digestion.
Play hard and know that health is not a mystery and fitness is not a puzzle.
- Travis M. Gordon |
