Staying Motivated When the Motivation Seems to Disappear

The sun is shining. For once it’s not raining outside like it has been for the last two weeks. I can see the bright blue sky because there are actually no clouds in sight. Is this real? I’m in shock at the beauty outside, but I’m even more shocked that I’m inside at the moment. I’m wasting great weather! How can anyone be inside on a day like this?

On a day like this (which has been happening  a lot lately- the weather has been absolutely beautiful) I do a few jumps in my head (or actual jumps) and then run around the house or start calling people in an effort to find someone that will play soccer with me, go for a run, head to the beach, or go for a swim at the pool. However, more often than not, people are too busy at the moment or not wanting to do the same activities as me. At first, this is always disheartening. I believe doing activities by yourself is a great way to learn more about yourself, grow, and relax, but I’m also an avid buddy-system person. Sometimes you just want a friend or family member to play volleyball at the beach or do yoga with you. But you won’t always have people accompanying you on everything, and it’s at these times that you need to remain motivated.

On my bike ride today I really thought about motivation and what motivates me. Yes, having a buddy to do things with definitely motivates me. But sometimes, that other person motivates me so much that I only want to do something if they do it with me. This is not because of fear of doing the activity, but rather a lack of personal, intrinsic motivation. I may get so used to running with a friend that I don’t feel up to running if they aren’t with me- which leads to me not running or even exercising that day. How is that helping me?

We need to be the motivation we desire. When a person can’t exercise or do an activity with us, that shouldn’t stop us from doing something we love or want to do to better ourselves. Motivation creates determination and discipline. This discipline will guide us to keeping that motivation on the tough days.

How do you stay motivated despite challenges?