There are many who are motivated at the start. You feel ready to get the party started and you want to do everything. ”Now I will do it, once and for all.” It is always fun when someone is motivated and wants to start the journey towards a healthier life. As a PT, trainer and coach it is easy to get a little too ”engrossed” at this point by clients who want so much from the beginning. You listen to them and hear that they can train many times a week and you set up the plan like that as well. It goes very well at first, but then something happens… the good development and success begins to slow down and a feeling of stress and anxiety begins to appear. What is happening?

This post is something that is always included in our various training groups. It is such an important step to understand and we want to share this with everyone so that you can set up a sustainable, long-term working solution for you towards a healthier life.

THE HIGH DOSE OF MOTIVATION AT THE BEGINNING CAN OFTEN BE THE FALL FOR THE CONTINUATION AND LONG TERM SUCCESS

How can a high dose of motivation be a pitfall, it does not sound right? Motivation is a strong driving force, yes, but we also know that it is not the strongest driving force going forward. The strongest is your why and I hope you know that by now. If this is the first time you’re checking in here and do not know what I’m talking about when it comes to ”your why”, I’ll cover this in the Trifinity Podcast – the pursuit of optimal health and performance. You can find the post where I talk about ”your why” here (in swedish): Podcast – Episode 1: What you need to know to succeed. But keep reading now and listen to the Podcast episode afterwards if you want. Let’s move on with what we were talking about. The difficulty with motivation is that it can often block other important things that must also exist and have a place in your life and everyday life. It happens so easily, when the motivation is high, that a lot of focus is turned on the goal alone and you often forget the other important things that must be prioritized. The ”other things” are often family, friends and other hobbies that you like. Development and success go well as long as the motivation is high. But we also all know that motivation comes and goes … your why and the other side persists.

If you have set big goals with your training per week when you were ”high” on motivation, this volume of training will be assumed to be held every week. This is usually a common goal when you start: ”I will train so and so many times a week”. You are very motivated to train the first few weeks and everything goes well. Then come these days… the days where the motivation feels low and at the same time you know the training volume you went in to do. You do not always realize it right there, but you desperately try to get things together in your schedule. The children’s party, the family reunion, the birthday, a meeting with friends and the training you have planned to do. A large part of the training will usually be absent here, at that time when the schedule is full. That in itself is not the whole world, there will be new days and new weeks where you will get those workouts in. But some may feel that they have failed the goal they set. A week where you do not quite get it together becomes two, two becomes three and so on. This is not about creating success for yourself but rather putting a hook in front of you and it has to do with the high dose of motivation you had in the beginning when you paved the way in front of you in the belief that this will take you towards your goal.

You should always be on your side. This way, the motivation is also kept almost automatically at a smoother level and does not go up and down in fast turns.