Why You Will Never Be Motivated Enough To Lose Weight

On a scale of 1-10, how motivated do you feel today?

Are you at a level 10? Ready to crush the week and be on point with your career, relationships, health, diet, & workouts?

Probably not.

And that is OK.

Neither am I.

Truthfully, that level 10 motivation comes around like 3x per year….total.

It is impossible to stay motivated, and the constant search for motivation is the BIGGEST mistake you are making!

Most people think that their problem is that they DON’T have motivation to workout or stay on track with their nutrition.

WRONG.

Your problem is that you believe you need motivation in the first place.

Imagine you need to hammer a nail into a stud.

You have the nail. You found the stud.

But you start searching for a spatula.

You start getting frustrated because you can’t find a spatula in your toolbox.

You are adamant that you just CANNOT start hammering the nail until you find the spatula!

Would this seem logical to you?

Why would you use a spatula to hammer a nail?

This is what it sounds like when you say you have trouble staying consistent because you have “no motivation.”

Motivation is the WRONG tool.

You don’t need motivation.

You need HABITS.

Habits are the hammer.

Motivation is the spatula.

The reason why you rely on motivation is because you are allowing emotions to control your decisions.

In the nail analogy above, imagine that while you are searching for the spatula, your toddler is walking around with a plastic construction helmet on, barking orders at you.

“You need the spatula!”

“If you don’t have the spatula, you can’t bang the nail!”

That bossy toddler is your EMOTIONS.

Habits are not based on emotions.

Habits are based on routines.

This is why they are able to be performed without much thought.

To give you an example, every morning, I wake up and run through the same set of routines that have become habit.

I can literally perform the first 30 min of my day without thinking.

1. Wake up on first alarm (cuz my phone is by my bathroom door on top of the clothes I laid out for the day, so no snooze button).

2. Get dressed & brush teeth.

3. Let the dog out.

4. Set my wife’s coffee to brew for when she wake’s up

5. Put the dog back in the crate

6. Eat the overnight oats I prepped the night before

7. Sit down with a cup of coffee to write an email to you

If you notice, there is nothing super interesting or motivating about this routine.

I am not doing anything special or crazy.

And no matter how I feel that day, this same routine gets done.

It does not matter if I feel happy, sad, angry, tired, overwhelmed, stressed, confident, or excited, this routine gets done.

Why?

Because it is habit.

Today, I will workout, because it is habit.

Today, I will eat 3-4 balanced meals, because it is habit.

Do I nail these habits 100% of the time?

Absolutely not!

There are days where I miss meals.

There are days where I have missed workouts.

There are days where my son is sick and I get behind on work.

There are days where I didn’t realize I ran out of oats and have to figure out an alternate breakfast.

BUT. I always fall BACK into my normal routine.

Why?

Because it is HABIT.

Habits are SO powerful.

If you have positive habits in place, that you can perform without motivation, you will see results.

It is undeniable.

This is why searching for diets or motivation doesn’t help.

This is why past attempts at weight loss didn’t stick.

You let your emotions get in the way, and you fell back into old negative habits.

The key is to create NEW positive habits.

This does not require motivation.

In fact, LESS motivation is better.

We want habits that you can do on your most hectic, stressed, unmotivated day.

Motivation is NOT helpful.

It is distracting.

It is the enemy of routine.

Now, here’s the crazy part: YOU already have the ability to do this.

You already perform positive habits EVERYDAY, regardless of motivation.

At work.

At home.

In relationships.

You show up to work 90% of the time.

You show up for your spouse &/or kids even when they piss you off.

You pay your mortgage.

You fill your gas tank.

You mow your lawn.

You do what NEEDS to get done because you understand the REASON why & you know the consequences of NOT doing it.

If you bail on work, you’ll get fired.

If you don’t pay your bills, you’ll lose your home.

If you don’t act nice to your spouse, you could get divorced.

If you don’t fill your gas tank, you’ll get stuck on the highway.

So why is it that you feel it is ok to bail on workouts or nutrition whenever life gets stressful?

Why is that the FIRST (and at times, the only) thing you ditch?

Is it because you don’t know the reason why you should be consistent with those things?

Is it because you are not aware of the consequences?

Understanding the REASON for doing a certain task is literally the definition of motivation.

So, in a way, you do need a little motivation.

You just need to understand the reason why your workouts & nutrition actually matter, while also understanding the consequences of not sticking to them.

Then, setup small daily habits that align with a fit & healthy lifestyle.

Scroll back to my morning routines.

There is nothing on there that you cannot do.

The fact is that you probably have a list of things you know you NEED to do.

But, what are the 1 or 2 things this week that you are WILLING to do to start building a healthier lifestyle.

Pick 1 or 2 things and schedule them into your week.

Maybe it’s a 10 min walk or having a protein shake first thing in the morning.

Pick 1 or 2 simple things and start building a habit around them.

Once those couple of things feel automatic, then you can think about adding another.

Hope this makes sense

Want more FREE coaching tips to help you lose 20-30lbs in 4-6 months? Check out my podcast TALKIN FIT with Adam Badger

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