MOTIVATION 2016 -- What the Research Labs are Discovering

The Real How-To Steps to Motivate Yourself

Coming up with a reward to treat yourself with AFTER you have accomplished a goal you have set for yourself is a great way to motivate yourself to grab ahold of that sought-after desire; right? Wrong! Guess again! 

Research out of the Motivation and Emotion Research Laboratory at San Francisco University has proven that much of what we have read in the past is supposed to motivate us into doing those things WE KNOW SHOULD DO instead of the opposite is actually counterproductive and sets us up for failure. Creating a treat-reward based motivation system really makes us LESS driven instead of more driven to get across that finish line.  

Rewarding ourselves for healthy behaviors like "I'll buy myself a new outfit if I do three Zumba classes this week," for example, actually takes our focus off of why we really should be doing cardiovascular exercise in accordance with United States Dietary Guidelines of 3-5 times a week for a minimum of 150 minutes. When we dream up a "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow," we think more about the perk or prize instead of our all-important health and fitness level which is the real reason why most of us need to make a habit of running, jogging, or walking regularly.

Ever heard of the Plan-B scenario of motivating yourself? You know -- always creating a back-up plan of how to accomplish your goal or task that needs to get done. This motivational strategy is a LOSER too when it comes to getting ourselves out of the habit of ordering pizza on Friday night after a long, hard week at work instead getting our booties into our chef's aprons and baking a piece of fresh fish along with steaming 2-3 cups of organic broccoli and cauliflower for dinner.  Creating a contingency plan actually prevents women and men from completely committing to that great goal we thought up for getting us into better physical shape. Telling ourselves that if we don't make it to spin class on Monday and Friday but instead take the yoga class at the local YMCA down the street in place of spin actually creates a convenient way to get us off the hook from doing what you really need to do to GET HEALTHY which is hard, blood-pumping cardio. Ditch your Plan B and make spin class or kickboxing a PRIORITY. 

Shhhhh........Keep your success plan or goal to yourself is what actually WORKS in real life and not doing the "tell someone your goal so that they can hold you accountable goal-achieving system we have read about in self-help books written by non-scientists who didn't know the facts.  Skip posting your goal on Instagram and Facebook and instead keep your eye-on-the-prize to yourself because blabbing on social media doing actually gets your brain to let you off the hook in getting-the-job-done because posting your goal to your friends and family actually provides a person with a feeling of accomplishment and ultimately the psyche checks that goal off as DONE. 

In conclusion, when we need to get something done we should internalize the task, creating one doable plan to accomplish that must-do job, and focus on WHY we should be working toward conquering that "certain thing" in our lives instead. If we do these three things we can expect to get that pat on the back by ourselves in due time.  

Thanks for reading. Have a fantastic day.

-Bell Gia

Nutrition and Fitness Expert