“I DON’T HAVE MOTIVATION”

By Jaryd Mostert, Dec 15 2020

  • If you’ve been meaning to start exercising but just can’t get over that first step.

 

  • If you’ve been trying to eat healthier but just don’t know where to start.

 

  • If you are a procrastinator, join the club so am I.

 

Don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to validate it, but just to let you know you’re not alone. The reason I’m writing this is because I caught myself procrastinating so I did what any person who struggles with motivation does…
Jumped on YouTube and listened to my favourite motivational speaker to pump me up right? Mine is Gary V (if you don’t know him you’re missing out).

But I thought if I feel this way there’s most likely someone else out there who feels the same way. So if this post helps you out feel free to follow me on social media for more nuggets of wisdom. (Not to be full of myself or anything haha). Anyway, back to motivation, you know that great feeling you get after watching a motivational video? The classic let’s do it, it’s time to get my ass in gear type feeling.
Let’s be honest, that great feeling usually lasts about as long as the video itself, until we have to actually sit down and do the work.

While I was watching, one statement stood out to me, and I’d actually heard it before by one of my favourite authors and trainers, James Smith. The quote followed the lines of:

 

“If you ask the majority of successful people what they did to get to where they are, they’d tell you they didn’t do anything spectacular. It was the accumulation of little tasks done consistently day in, day out for years

(not like a year or two but 10, 20 years).

 

The thing is, when it comes weight-loss, building muscle or being healthy in general it’s exactly the same. It’s exponential in nature, meaning nothing cool happens until much later. But in the meantime enjoy feeling more confident or proud of yourself because you did 1 more squat or push up than last time, because you enjoyed that pizza without feeling guilty. I always tell my clients, rather start badly than not start at all. You can always improve on previous efforts but it’s hard to improve what’s not there.

I KNOW IT’S EASIER SAID THAN DONE.

I’m a perfectionist so I will put things off and end up not doing them, because I fear they won’t be perfect right away. But think about it, the only one judging you is yourself. Your friends aren’t, they’re secretly wishing they had as much courage as you. And if they are judging you or anyone else for that matter, they’re not your friends so why do you even care what they think?

Successful people are not a different breed, they’ve mastered consistency, or at least better than most of us.

The reason what James said sunk in for me was that, for those who don’t know, I used to be a high performance gymnast in South Africa. I didn’t go to the Olympics or anything but I represented the country a few times, I was pretty decent.

But it reminded me that I trained for over 10 years before I even began doing any of the cool shit. Sure I won a few competitions along the way but the exciting stuff, only way further in the future. I look back on my old videos as a kid, and to be honest if I was a coach looking at young Jaryd’s gymnastics, I’d say this kid is pretty average, not much talent, probably not going to go very far. And yes there were way better gymnasts than me, but most of the talented ones quit before I did.
I achieved what I achieved through consistent, unspectacular training day in and day out for 10 years.

The Advice I Give To My Clients Who Struggle With Motivation.

Usually I tell them to stop focusing on the end goal. Yes it’s important to aim for it but it’s more important to celebrate the small wins along the way and appreciate the progress you’ve made.
So I realized I need to take my own damn advice! And also the advice I’m giving to you is that, if you’re struggling, and you are thinking to yourself, “Maybe I’m just not the type to achieve that much success.”

 

STOP THE NEGATIVE TALK

1. If your goal is to lose weight, just start. Go on a walk, do 1 gym session, eat some vegetables.

2. Then take a step back and appreciate the progress you’ve made. (Often we are so fixated on how far we are from our goals we forget to look back and appreciate how far we’ve come. I’ll say it again, JUST START).

3. Next, try and maintain the progress you’ve made consistently over time.

4. Then gradually try and improve on your previous efforts.
(i.e.) Do a longer walk, eat some more veggies, exercise twice a week etc.

Showing up is half the battle won, so if all you ever do is show up, you’re already 100% further than if you did nothing.

If you take nothing else from what I said in this post, just remember this:

 

1. Start Badly rather than not start at all.

 

2. Try and do and be better than you were yesterday.

 

3. Success is not guns blazing, balls to the wall and hoping for that great opportunity. It’s the accumulation of the small consistent efforts you put in every day, every year.

 

4. STOP and smell the roses. Don’t be so fixated on how far you are from your goal, you forget to look back and appreciate how far you’ve come.

 

Jaryd Mostert

Jaryd is a sport scientist & personal trainer. He has two degrees in exercise science and has helped hundreds of people achieve their health and fitness goals, using his simple no nonsense approach. Dispelling all the fads and quick fixes, Jaryd is able to empower his clients to eventually take control of their own health without his help.