Our Top Tips for Staying Motivated

I love to perform the military press. Single press, double press, see saw press, they’re all good! I sometimes will joke with people that I perform all the other movements just so that I can continue to press. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if I am performing a program that is based around pressing that it’s going to get done the majority of the time. Programs based around some of the other movements don’t always happen as easily though… And things like regularly writing this blog? Just check the publishing dates to see how often that happens!

We’ve put together our top tips for staying motivated when it comes to training to make some of these things (like sitting down to write blog posts or performing high volume swing workouts) that feel like taking medicine happen:

1: Get a friend who can check in with me regularly.

Dave Johnston, an excellent StrongFirst instructor based in Toowoomba, is someone who is going to harass me and hold me accountable if he doesn’t see some blog posts out of me. Bill Savage, a man with mutant like work capacity sends me a text message every day to ensure that I’ve gone out to crawl a little. And Andrew Wallis, my NPE coach (if you’re in the fitness business you should check these guys out), he checks in regularly to ensure that I’m ticking some of the boxes that make businesses profitable.

2: Stick it in my diary

If I set aside a day but I don’t define the activities well, I can often find that the day has run away from me before I’ve gotten the things that I “wanted” to do done. It’s easy to procrastinate - less easy when you look at your phone and it’s flashing up the ‘appointment’ that is scheduled for 30 minutes time. At this point, it almost takes more effort not to do the things that have been planned for the day. It’s at this point that the old idea about failing to plan = planning to fail comes into play.

3. Just do it…

At the end of the day, I usually find that if I get started doing something then it really isn’t that hard to get it done. The hard part is getting started! So once my diary beeps and tells me to get going, I know that I will be productive if I follow the complex procedure of traveling to where the task needs to be done, sitting down, and doing it (it helps if the workspace is clear… you have to work so much harder to distract yourself if your workspace is clear).

I don’t think I’m the only one who has those days where you look back and wish that you’d ticked more items off the list, but I’m proud to say that by putting into place the ridiculously simple steps above that I’m having, and I’m going to have, fewer of those days all the time. Dan John talks about us having a limited “can” of motivation to spend every day, and by doing these things you (and I) can help that can to spread a little bit further onto the things that we actually want to achieve.

P.S. I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook, “Getting Things Done” by David Allen, I’ve ordered the hard copy because I honestly believe that if I implement this system then it’s going to be a whole ‘nother level!

If this sounds appealing, come along to our next beginner kettlebell workshop and start getting stronger, building healthy habits and feeling better sooner rather than later. QKB is a Brisbane gym where quality is always valued over quantity and our group fitness classes are tailored around YOU. Contact us today and find out more!