motivation Archives - Page 4 of 10 - Fran's Fitness Over 50

You only need one thing to enter your happy place

As humans, we strive for certain things. First of those things is happiness. Being happy and optimistic helps us overcome minor problems and be more resilient. Who wants to be doom and gloom all the time, right? And yet so many of us are not happy. Sure, some things in all of our lives weigh us down. But there are lots of facets to each of us. And most of those facets can make us happy. It just takes one thing to enter your happy place. Now, my happy place is probably very different from yours. And your happy place is different from anyone else’s. All are equally happy to each of us. What’s that one thing we need? A mindset shift.

Exercise: from “no way” to “happy place?”

I’ve said it before, I don’t like to exercise. And yet I do it every day. How do I get from moping around and saying, “I have to go work out. I don’t want to do it. Why do I have to work out?” to “I get to work out now!” How? That one thing to get to my happy place is a shift in the story I tell myself. “In 45 minutes or so, I’ll be done. I can relax and take a nice warm shower. Then I can sit down and read for a few minutes.” Notice the fact that I don’t dwell on the workout itself, but on the reward. Once I get going, I don’t actually mind the workout. I can enjoy the music and the choreography. And I know that if the weights are really heavy, then I’m probably almost done.

Except for running. I really do mind the running. And then I found something to make the running more enjoyable: audiobooks. I listen to a rollicking adventure while I’m on the treadmill and that takes my mind completely off of what I’m doing. I made something about running fun and that keeps me motivated during those workouts.

Gray winter ugly to aesthetically pleasing

This can work for other activities as well. That one thing to enter your happy place when you’re seeing gray, dirty snow on the ground in the depths of winter could be admiring the lines of the bare branches against the sky. Or enjoying how your dog romps through the stuff.

Treasure hunt!

And if you’re not a fan of organizing, but you’ve got a closet that you promised yourself you’d get to, then you need that mindshift, that one thing to enter your happy place. Tell yourself that you’re going on a treasure hunt in the closet. Because you never know what you’ll find there. You may find long-lost treasures to wear or even to sell. Schedule a few hours to do it. Yes, put it in your calendar. And get it done.

I’m no Pollyanna, but I’ve been working on putting a smile on my face every day. I’ve been exercising that mindshift to become happier, no matter what else is going on. It works for me, and discovering that one thing to enter your happy place will work for you, too.

Why can’t I do the same workout every day

The first step in beginning a fitness regimen is finding an exercise program that you like. I’ve said that a lot. Because if you don’t like it, you won’t do it. Simple as that. If you have a program that gets you on your feet, gets you moving, and you actually look forward to it, then why in the world wouldn’t you do it every day? You’ve got built-in motivation, so get to it, right? Now you’re saying that’s a bad idea? Why can’t I do the same workout every day? Here are some answers, prompted by personal trainer and fitness nutrition specialist Rachel Trotta with my own comments thrown in. And my own article about cross-training may have some ideas for you, too.

First, remember to recover

Our bodies need time to recover. When we work our muscles intensely, they need time to recover and get stronger. So if you love to run and want to run everyday (I don’t understand this, but I know many people do), try to find something else that you love for alternating days. If you emphasize strength workouts, try to work different parts of your body every other day.

But if, like the series that I like, your workout program actually does target different areas of your body on different days, you may not need to do a different program. If you’ve found an instructor that you really like, that’s terrific. Try to find different programs that target different areas to mix up your workouts.

The dreaded plateau

If you do the same workout every day, your body gets used to the movements and you’ll hit a plateau. Your body is great at adapting, but that’s not what you want when you exercise. In order to get stronger, or leaner, or improve our cardio response, we need to keep progressing in our workouts. Lift a little more, or do more difficult moves.

The boredom factor

No matter how much you like a workout program at the beginning, if you repeat it too much, you will get bored and you’ll lose your motivation. It’s the same thing with your favorite foods. Eat the same thing every single day and you’ll get bored with it and look for something new and exciting. I think that’s one reason we find it hard to stick to a restrictive eating plan. If you stick with it, you’re bound to lose weight, for example, but we want variety. Same thing with our workouts. If we do the same workout every day, we’ll get sick of it.

Over-exercise may result

And doing the same workout every day may result in over-exercise. Over-doing a move may result in injury. Or, if you’re merely going through the moves without focusing on them, you won’t get the full benefit.

So what’s the solution?

If I can’t do the same workout every day, what do I do? As I said before, if you’re streaming workouts and have found an instructor you really like, look for other programs that they do. While you’re enjoying that instructor’s workouts, also look for other programs you think you might enjoy and try them out. Also, try something totally different. You might like that too.

What can you get done?

What can you get done in 15 minutes? A whole lot, as it turns out. My sister and I cleaned out 3 generations of stuff from our house in 15 minutes. Not all at once, but in 15 minute chunks. Not only my parents’ stuff, and my sister’s and my stuff, but my grandparents’ stuff too. Every corner of the house was filled with stuff.

Hoarders with 3 generations-worth of stuff

We had moved my grandmother into a nursing home and she shipped everything to us. My sister and I inherited our family home and we were not interested in moving. So we had to go through everything. A daunting task. The show “Hoarders” wasn’t on the air when we did this, but our house could probably have been featured. It’s not pristine now, but it’s no longer even close to a hoarder’s abode any longer. And we did it in 15 minutes at a time.

We tackled the job just like that – a job. We knew that if we tried to do a bigger part, like a whole room at a time, we’d never finish. But we set a timer and got busy. Sorting the stuff, 15 minutes at a time. Keep, toss, donate. Keep, toss, donate. Just that simple. It was our job for those 15 minutes every day.

What can you get done?

What can you get done in 15 minutes? A half hour? An hour? Anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Anything. I’m a firm believer. I write about goals and discipline all the time. Because that’s what it takes to get things done.

The problem is that many people don’t consider their personal goals the same way that they do their work or career goals. And that’s why they don’t achieve things that are important to their personal lives.

Personal goals = work goals

One productivity expert, in fact, proposes that we should view our personal goals exactly like our work goals. Use the same tools at home as we do in the office. For example, at the office we plan the day’s work to achieve the goals we set. It should be the same thing at home – but just if you want to achieve life goals too. (Just kidding, of course you do!) So, use your planner – or get one for your personal life. I created the Fitness Journal and Tracker for every part of what you want to get done. It’s much more than just for exercise. Track that, of course, as well as your diet, your water, your sleep, and anything else you want to keep track of.

Figure out a plan to get it done

Create goals for yourself and write them down in your Journal. High-flying, big, pie-in-the-sky goals. And figure out a plan to get them done. Above all, be specific – that’s the key to achieving big goals. If you know you want to achieve a lot, but don’t know how to start recognizing goals, download the Get It Done Guide. Use the worksheet. That’ll help. You’ll increase your resilience, your happiness, and, not only that, you’ll improve your mindset. So, what can you get done? A whole lot. Get to it. Start now.

Get stuff done the Navy SEAL way

Want to get stuff done? Get disciplined.

Got plans? Of course you do. And then life happens. It’s frustrating, I get it. Then how are some people able to accomplish so much? They may just be lucky and nothing gets in their way. Or they could be extremely disciplined. Some people achieve their goals no matter how high they set them. And other people don’t. Those people who achieve their goals have the discipline to put blinders on for at least part of each day, and not let anything distract them. If you want to get stuff done, get disciplined.

Navy SEALS have what it takes

In his book, Embrace the Suck, former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson describes 9 ways to create the discipline it takes to complete a project. Without undergoing the rigorous training it takes to become a SEAL, we can learn from the lessons Gleeson recounts and develop the discipline to achieve our own goals.

Know yourself

The first step, Gleeson says, is to know yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses. I know that I can’t stop eating chocolate. It’s impossible. What I can do is modify my eating habits so that I only eat a small piece. That small piece has to be the very best, or it won’t satisfy me, though. If I crave chocolate and eat some of the cheap stuff that tastes like wax, I’ll just want more, hoping that it’s better than I remembered.

Likewise, I know that I won’t be happy with a workout program that uses country music to motivate. I’m happier with classic rock. That kind of music will inspire me to work harder. Like I’ve said, focus on the fun and you’ll get stuff done – hey! that rhymes!

Use your weaknesses as a strength

Your weaknesses can be used to inspire you to change, though. Yes, I admit that I have a weakness for dark chocolate. I can use that dark chocolate as a reward for a week of hard workouts. A very small piece. Likewise, if you see something in yourself that will work against a very important goal, you can work to change it. When I wanted to lose weight years ago, I changed my eating habits. More vegetables, less starch. As much as I adore pasta and potatoes, I cut back when I made it my goal to lose weight.

If you know that you need to focus and do some deep thinking for a project to complete it, set a timer for 50 minutes, turn off your notifications, turn your phone face down, and get to work. Those last 10 minutes of the hour, reward yourself with some scrolling. When you want to get stuff done, get disciplined, then you get the reward.

Your goals

I’ve talked before about setting specific goals. It’s good for your healthy aging to have a few goals – both long- and short-term. If I want to make it my goal to hold the Side Plank Star for 10 seconds by the end of the year, I should plan steps toward that big goal with the few short weeks left in mind. But all of your goals should have deadlines, and be very specific. Set a route to travel toward your goal. Achieving our goals ensures our happiness as well as our resilience.

So, if you want to get stuff done, get disciplined. And if you want more help getting disciplined and making sure you’ll stay motivated, get the Get It Done Guide.

Exercise for mental health – is it enough?

I’ve mentioned that exercise will boost your optimism, improve your memory and make you more resilient. Exercise is also important for healthy aging. All that’s still true. But is exercise for mental health enough? Perhaps. I’ve mentioned that I exercise to be a nicer person. I exercise to work out my frustrations and anger. But I also exercise so I can eat. And I run to make navigating an agility course with my dog a little easier.

I don’t want to plateau

I don’t enjoy exercise. And for me, exercising for my mental health would not be enough. So I push myself. But everyone is different, and if you exercise strictly for the mental health benefits, you’ll still sweat and get endorphin rush from aerobic activity. But if you don’t push yourself, do one more repetition, run an extra hundred yards, push the speed a little, or the incline, you’ll reach a plateau in your physical conditioning. That may not matter to you.

Progressive overload

But if hitting a plateau is not in your makeup, and you want more from your exercise, then you’re like me. You’ll push a little harder, run a little further, lift a bit more. The experts call this “progressive overload.” By gradually increasing the difficulty or intensity of your workouts, you become stronger, faster, and more fit. The term is usually applied to strength training, but it can be used for any kind of workout. And by gradually increasing the difficulty, you’re continually challenging yourself.

Gradually increase your speed or reps

Trainer Chad Barribeau, CSCS, says, “A good rule of thumb is to increase your workout load (whether weight, reps, distance, or speed) by 10 percent or less each week. This can ensure you’re challenging yourself while controlling your risk of injury or burnout.” Slow and steady increases will produce gains in your physical fitness without the soreness we frequently experience from doing too much too soon. So, slow and steady really can win the race.

Me? I’m greedy. I want it all. I want the happiness and release of frustration that the endorphins produced by a good workout bring me. And I also want the speed and strength I get from conditioning my body.

Your fitness journey is yours alone

The instructor in one of my favorite fitness program videos says “Fitness is a journey, not a destination.” And that couldn’t be more right. You can never say, “I’m fit, so I don’t have to exercise or watch what I eat any more.” You’re never done. And your journey toward fitness is yours alone.

Your goals are different than mine

It’s different than mine, or your partner’s, or your sister’s. Your fitness goals are different than my goals. You may want washboard abs. I don’t think they’re necessary.Feeling better and being fit improves my resilience. I may have a fitness goal of being able to run 8 miles an hour. You probably don’t care about how fast you run. We’re all different. Each of our fitness journeys is correct and right for us. We have to change our mindset to accept and appreciate our uniqueness.

A break in the fitness journey

The fact that we’re never done with our journey to fitness hit home to me recently. If you’ve been exercising regularly for a while and stop for a week, you know that you’ll be sore all over again. I had Covid and just didn’t feel up to exercising for a few days. I started up again,but my muscles were sore, I wasn’t as strong, and I was winded more quickly than before I was sick. So I started my journey again. There’s no destination. My journey to fitness is ongoing. And yours probably is too. I consider myself “fit,” and I want to stay that way.

Being truly alive means staying fit

If we’re alive, don’t we want to be truly alive? Experience new things, taste new flavors, smell new aromas? All that means staying fit. We may want to share our journeys, but we don’t want to be dependent on our traveling companions. We want to be able to walk around new cities. Visit new shops and restaurants. And being fit means not slowing our traveling companions down.

Everyone’s journey has similarities

Everyone’s fitness journey has similarities. We have to plan our workouts and nutrition. Everyone has to figure out how to vary the exercises we do so we don’t overuse muscles. And we each have to measure our progress against the goals we set for ourselves somehow.

So, enlist others to go on your fitness journey with you. Walk with a friend. Commiserate about a tough workout with a classmate. Bitch and moan about running with relatives. And remember they’re on their own fitness journey.

Make it fun and you’ll be motivated

Last week’s article was about wasting time to get back into a project that you’ve been procrastinating on. Say you’re writing an essay and the words just aren’t coming together. You’re staring at that blank screen and nothing’s coming to you. So, take a few minutes and scroll your feed. Just a few minutes. Then come back and chances are you’ll be able to write coherently. On the other hand, if you know exactly what you have to do but don’t want to do it – like exercise for me – make it fun and you’ll be motivated to do it.

Get motivated to exercise

There are more exercise programs out there than anyone can count. There’s bound to be one that you like and will look forward to doing. It’s important for your healthy aging to be consistent in your exercise routine. If you like dance, there are loads of dance-based beginner workouts on YouTube, available when you search. Check them out, and note the instructors you like – their voice, the moves and the music they use. And see if there are more episodes. The more of something you like, the better! Same with other types of workouts. If you like yoga, or Pilates, there are lots of those out there as well. Or put your favorite music on for 45 minutes a day and move! That’s loads of fun, you’ll get your heart up, and get plenty sweaty!

The fun was not in the exercise

The author of a recent article in Psychology Today had a little bit of a different take on the issue. Elizabeth Roper Marcus is 77 now, and several years ago decided that she should exercise. She started walking with a friend and that worked for a while, until she realized that the entire reason she was doing it was because it was with that friend. Marcus’ exercise habit was totally dependent on that friend. What happened if the friend couldn’t exercise with her? Then she wouldn’t exercise.

So she took an unused closet, put a treadmill and a TV in there, and watched movies and her favorite shows while she walked. Over time she was able to increase her speed and the treadmill incline. She got stronger and more fit. She found the secret, to make it fun. Of course, walking does not address all the recommendations of the CDC for strength training in addition to the cardio work, so Marcus goes with her husband for that at a gym a couple of times a week. She says that’s not as much fun, but she’s with her husband which makes it better.

My fun in exercise is different

For me, I’ve found a workout program that I like, and do that one or two times a week. I do Pilates-based workouts a couple other days a week, and I run on the treadmill a couple more times a week. I do not like to run (I’ve said that before). But, I enjoy listening to audiobooks, especially mysteries or thrillers, while I run. And that’s what keeps me running, following Marcus’ lead on that one.

As I’ve said before, if you don’t enjoy something, and it’s not absolutely required, you won’t do it. But make it fun and you’ll be motivated.

Waste time to get motivated

So this morning I woke up early, thinking I could write maybe a thousand words in my novel. I was at a crucial point, but a couple of days ago, the last time I tackled this document, I got stuck. I’m at a crucial plot point, and I couldn’t figure out how to resolve the issue. So today, after I got back from the bathroom and made sure the dogs were still sleeping soundly, I turned on my keyboard, got my phone, and was immediately distracted by a news story. Funny, now, I don’t even remember what that story was. I must have wasted ten minutes scrolling the news after reading that story.

Then I shook myself (mentally) and told myself to get to work. Opened the Google Doc and started banging the keyboard. No breaks for about a half hour, until I had to get up and start the day. I didn’t quite make it to a thousand words, but came close. It turns out that it’s actually a proven productivity method: waste time to get motivated.

Scroll social media?

In fact, Joi Foley of the Rockwood Leadership Institute, advocates scrolling social media as a way to get away from the pressure you put on yourself when you’re stuck. If you’re working on a project and are stymied on where to take it, chances are your path will become clear after a break. And scrolling your social media accounts for a few minutes can provide that break. Thinking about a great bread pudding recipe, for example, can let your mind solve that other, totally unrelated, problem. The key here is to get back on track after a few minutes. If you like this solution to problem-solving, you may want to use an app to get you back to your task after a set time period.

Do nothing

Another way Foley can waste time to get motivated is to do nothing. Just sit and breathe. I’ve advocated meditation myself. It’s sometimes hard to get the noises out of your head, though, to meditate properly. Perhaps a short guided meditation can help you focus on something else.

Work for 5 minutes

So another time-waster Foley suggests is to just work for 5 minutes. Goodness knows, sometimes those 5 minutes can seem like forever when I’m working on a project I wasn’t looking forward to. So after those 5 minutes are up, do something else. Chances are, you’ll start thinking about the project you left and get the urge to start working on it again.

Take a walk

I also advocate a change of scenery. Take a short walk. That often helps me clear my head and want to dive into a project when I get back. Taking a walk not only helps productivity but also contributes to your happiness.

All this time-wasting is contributing to your productivity. By strategically doing other things, and thinking about other stuff, you’re actually doing more to get the stuff you really want to get done, done. And that will make you happier, more optimistic, and more resilient. It contributes to your healthy aging and you’ll get the urge to get even more stuff done.

Outside factors do affect your motivation

In a perfect world, you’d wake up in the morning, fired up to work out, run all your errands, and knock three things off your Goal-Setting Go-Getter To-Do List by 11. And you’d still have time to get a good start on saving the world by lunch. But, we know things don’t work that way. The way my day started: the alarm went off, I rolled over to turn it off. Put my feet into my slippers and hobbled into the bathroom because my back and hip let me know that it would be a bursitis day. Wandered back into the bedroom to get dressed. Turned the light on to find that my old dog had thrown up on the towel he sleeps on, on the bed. (Thank goodness it was on the bed!) Hurriedly got dressed, gathered up the dirty towel, picked up the old guy, and ushered the others outside. Motivation for the rest of the day: shot. So, outside factors do affect your motivation. For sure.

Overcoming outside factors affecting our plans

So how do we deal with that? How do we overcome those outside factors that affect our plans for every day?

Of course, we have to deal with things that come up that require immediate attention – like cleaning up the old dog and putting the towel in the laundry room for the next load. But we just have to deal with the other things that stick around that affect our plans. Like the chronic pain of bursitis. Some of you may have chronic back or knee pain. It’s not fun, and every so often it’s more acute than others. But it’s something that’s not going away. So we deal with it.

Is it possible to maintain positive momentum then?

But to maintain our motivation to move forward with our plans, remaining in that mindset of having to deal with external factors is not going to work. We have to actually change our mindset and decide that we’re not going to settle for just cleaning up dog vomit. Once we tend to the immediate problem, it’s time to get going.

Achieving a growth mindset

It may be time to cross those little niggly things off the To Do List – ones that don’t take a lot of brain power but just need to get done. You’ve accepted the fact that you may not get some really deep thinking done today to make great strides toward your ultimate goal, but you can do some of the little things that will inch your way forward. This encourages your growth mindset – your ability to change and grow, become more resilient and positively impact your mental state. So, settle the dog in a nice bed by your workstation, take a deep breath, and check off some boxes.

Yes, outside factors do affect your motivation, but that doesn’t mean that they rule your actions. Decide to move forward.

For more tips on maintaining your momentum, grab the “Get It Done” Guide.

Just one more!

I don’t know too many people who are excited to exercise. I’m not. I do it because the benefits I get from exercise allow me to do the things I actually want to do. But I know that in order for the exercise to keep giving me those benefits, I have to keep challenging myself. You probably know that many days I do my workouts with a pre-recorded program. I pick up my weights and follow along. As the years have gone by, I’ve increased the intensity and the weights I use. I’ve gotten stronger, and the old weights were no longer challenging. I also want to be able to do more regular push-ups because I want to get stronger. To motivate myself, I tell myself, “Just one more!”

The key to motivation

And that’s the key to motivation. “Just one more” can be your watchword, your spark, for anything you’ve got in your sights. One more pound to lift. Run another tenth of a mile. Walk one more block. Write another chapter. Knit another row. The sky’s the limit when you tell yourself, “Just one more!”

Stagnation is the worst thing

I believe that the worst thing we can do is stagnate. If we don’t grow, if we don’t evolve, then I think we can just dig a hole and get comfortable there. By growing and developing new talents we learn more about ourselves and the world.

Develop a “growth mindset”

And in challenging ourselves, we develop what’s known as a “growth mindset.” We aren’t satisfied with the way things are now, with ourselves. We know that we can be better. We can become more fit, for ourselves and the people who love us. And we can explore more things. We’re not satisfied with our current knowledge base. Sometimes that’s scary. But by learning more about the things that scare us they lose the aspects that we fear. We can bounce back and become more resilient as fewer things scare us. Sure, there are other scary things out there, but we may have to look harder for them.

When we can do “Just one more,” then perhaps we can do two more, and conquer the world that much faster.