When we shine a light on our previous success we find the motivation we need to continue to be successful.
“When it’s time to change, we must look for bright spots — the first signs that things are working, the first precious A’s and B’s on our report card. We need to ask ourselves a question that sounds simple but is, in fact, deeply unnatural: What’s working and how can we do more of it?”
Here’s what we know about motivation:
- Success has to happen before you’ll become motivated.
- Success has to KEEP happening.
- We don’t always recognize success when it happens. We’re pretty hard on ourselves.
Good gyms provide access. Great gyms provide success.
That means we prioritize our PR board over our scoreboard, we celebrate every small success with each other, and we need to take five minutes every week to reflect on the GOOD in our lives.
The practice of thankfulness doesn’t come naturally to anyone. That’s why we call it a practice: it’s hard, we don’t feel like doing it–and then we feel better once we have.
Bright spots aren’t always directly workout-related (“I got an award at work for being the best in my field!”, or “My Kid performed in the school play and absolutely crushed it!”) but practicing gratitude and thankfulness IS an exercise.
Start with one TINY little Bright Spot, maybe I did a 10-minute walk today! Make it workout related to start, if that’s easier. What did you do RIGHT, or do BEST, or do for the FIRST time this week?