Obviously their health should be one. My problem with that is that if I don’t have an immediate problem, I’m REALLY good at procrastinating any type of fix-it solutions. This is a HORRIBLE idea when it comes to health because frequently you can’t just “fix it.” The other issue is I normally avoid going to the doctor so I don’t become aware about anything!
Eh…
Now that my work year is picking back up (have I mentioned I’m a teacher?) it’s easier for me to get back on a schedule. No more randomly staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning (usually). I actually have early meetings to attend. But that still doesn’t mean I have the motivation to wake up even earlier, rolling out of bed, and hitting the pavement. Aside from being “morbidly obese” I haven’t really had any health issues. The vast majority of the time when I DO go to the doctor for something, the nurses always record my blood pressure (I’m sure with at least some small amount of surprise) as in normal ranges. Again it’s the fact that I don’t see any health problems to act as motivation. If someone were to be like “to make sure you’ll be around for your family” my procrastinator side would say “well why wouldn’t you be around? You’ve got no serious medical issues!”
It’s a problem.
I’ll tell you the things that have started to motivate me more recently. Tying my shoes is horribly uncomfortable. There are clothes that I just can’t fit comfortably in right now and I really don’t want to have to go up a size. It’s a lot easier to be out of breath based on simple activities. I can’t play the sports I used to. I can’t wrestle around with my kids anymore because I just don’t want to put forth that exertion. It hurts to stand up. I also feel like it makes it difficult for me to be in tune with the Holy Ghost (church related topic) because I’ve been allowing my “carnal side” to dominate my behaviors instead of mastering my impulses with food. There are a lot of other small things that have been building too.
Motivation, I have come to learn, can be similar to inspiration. Sometimes it is thrust upon us in bursts similar to a flash of lightning. Sometimes it gradually builds until we have greater clarity similar to a sunrise. And like both situations, it isn’t necessarily permanent. Unlike lightning or a sunrise, we have the ability to decide if we will remain motivated to our goals or not. Actually, better said, we have the responsibility to nourish our motivation or find new motivation. We may not be able to control whether or not we are feeling motivated on a given day to do something. If we lack our motivation, the best thing we can do is put the work in towards our goal anyway. Oft times, our motivation will return if we do our part.
I’d love to hear from readers in the comments about how you look for motivation for things you know you need to do, but maybe don’t really want to do. Let us draw strength from one another.
