Renewed Motivation

Sometime back, I wrote a blog post about motivation.  And it still rings true.  Motivation is a key factor to anything I do.  Whether it be an attempt at getting fit or striving for a personal goal in another area of my life.  Motivation is a driving force.  It helps propel us forward.  This is something I have learned a little more about since my last blog post about motivation.  And the person who taught me this lesson, is only 8 months old as of this writing.

Little did I know that 8 months ago, the smallest person I have ever held would also be one of the biggest teachers I would encounter in my day to day walk.  And I thank her on a daily basis.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't learn something new from her as she is learning everything new for the first time.  And motivation has been one of the key topics that she demonstrates to me everyday.

For example, she is crawling/scooting across the floor now.  She will literally sit on one side of the room and see something (anything really) that catches her eye, and she's off.  She may take 5 minutes to traverse our apartment's living room.  But when she gets to her destination, she will sit up with a triumphant smile on face marking what looks like a small victory to us.  But to her, she just climbed a mountain.  And if you interfere in any way, usually by picking her up and relocating her in the room.  First chance she gets, she will be heading right back to her original destination (at least until she is sidetracked).  At first it appeared she was stubborn.  But a second glance showed me that she is just simply "motivated".

And her motivation keeps driving her forward.  The other afternoon, she crawled across the floor and pulled up against the couch until she was standing (this is only the second or third time she's done this solo).  It took her several attempts to stand and remain standing.  But no matter how many tumbles she took, she got right back up and tried again.

I started relating her determination to my own goals in life.  When I started this blog in 2012, my drive was to loose weight.  Here I am 2 years later, still working at it.  Not nearly as bad off as I was originally, but still not where I wanted to be.  And then I examined why I haven't reach my goals.  I lost sight of my motivation.  I became complacent and basically quit working out.  Sure, I wasn't trashing my diet completely, as I still watched what I ate.  But I was REALLY even trying.  Then I looked at my daughter.

And I regained sight of my motivation.  Truth of the matter is, when my wife and I got married 10 years ago (as of May 2014), I weighed 145 pounds.  At my heaviest I was breaking 260 pounds which was about two and a half years ago.  Watching my daughter try her best to just move across the room, spoke to me on a level I never really thought of before.  My thought was that one day she's going to want to run across the yard with Dad.  Or she'll want to go for a ride on Daddy's shoulders while Mommy and Daddy go on a walk.  And in my current shape, doing those things would be difficult.  Not impossible, but difficult.

I don't want to look back in 20 years and think of these times as "the times Daddy couldn't keep up".  I owe it to my daughter to be better than that.  She deserves to have those experiences with Mommy and Daddy.  End of story.  And if I don't do something about it now, I will never do something about it.  Even as I write this, I can feel the emotion starting to stir deep down. And I guess when it comes right down to it.  I want to be around for her.  Later in our lives.  I am not old by any means.  I am 32 years old.  I have plenty of time to make the change, but only if I start now.  My original motivation was to look good, look fit, and be healthy.  Now it has shifted to be there for your family (long term), be there for your family (long term) and get healthy.

"Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today?"

Find your motiviation.  It's different for us all.  And make a change.

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Getting Crafty...

I have fallen into the Pinterest trap!  Help!  I have been trying to think of ways to incorporate motivation in with a way to express it to other people.  Could be plain motivational or even humorous.  And I keep coming back to the idea of brainstorming up some shirts or shirt designs...  Maybe for wearing to the gym?  This is entirely within my scope of experience, as I enjoy playing around with some graphic design elements.  And it isn't terribly costly to dig into.  But I'm not completely sure about it.

What do you guys think?  Would you be interested in seeing some "SlimTechie" designs in the future?Leave me a comment and let me know!

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Motivation:Why Is It Important?

One of the biggest problems I personally have when it comes to exercise and fitness is a complete and utter lack of motivation.  This has plagued every half-witted attempt I have taken at getting fit.  Usually I start off strong by working out regularly and trying to eat right then after a couple of weeks something will happen.  Almost as if I flipped a switch off in my mind that says "Okay, I'm done.".  From that point forward it becomes a lot easier to sit inside and play games or do other things on days we have nice weather or lay out of the gym.

So how do I combat that lack of motivation or drive?  For me, I have found that when I can't motivate myself; that's when I need to get other people involved.  The first person I started bugging was my wife.  Initially, when I told her what my personal goals were for things like walking and weight loss she was surprise, worried, concerned (whatever you want to call it, she though something was up).  But after she actually saw me get out and start working, it was almost like catching a cold.  She jumped right in and started contributing with me.  After a couple of days I started mentioning my efforts to others like my Mom.  My Mom is a nurse and understands the point of good health practices and likes to get out and about herself.  So she jumped on the wagon with us too.  Essentially, I surrounded myself with people who I knew would be proud of me if I succeed and will help encourage me when I don't quite feel like going that extra mile.  And so far, it is working.

With a form of what I will call "external motivation" from other people, that pushes me to be more inclined to get out and put forth an effort.  And so far with this motivation, I have walked since March 1st, 2012: 34.37 miles.  Which may not sound like a lot but a month ago I was spending almost all of my free time sitting around either infront of a television, computer, or video game.  Now I am walking at least 5 days a week (oftentimes 6 days) and am pushing myself farther every time I go out.  And I have already started to move my belt in one notch.  And for a guy whose belt hasn't moved in 7 years; that's a big deal!

So how can you find that extra motivation to help encourage you?  First, don't think of your workouts/eating better as a diet.  If you start out by saying "I can't go there or eat that because I'm on a diet"; you will find that you are limiting yourself within constraints that may make life a little more difficult on you.  And who needs that stress, as it will kill motivation for you.  Yes, you should be conscious about your diet, but not to the point you have put yourself in a doorless room with rice cakes.  If you happen to splurge (which it is healthy to do once in a while), just make a note and work a little harder on your next trip out.  NOTE: Please don't read that Techie said to go crazy with your moderation.  That's nuts.

Second, set goals that you know you can achieve.  Not something that is unattainable.  In my case, if I started out doing no exercise whatsoever (which was my case actually), and I decided to go out and run for 10 miles.  I would have flopped in my attempt that day.  Instead, I started out determined to walk no more than 2 miles.  When I hit the 2 miles mark, I was feeling pretty good and ended up walking 5 miles my first day out.  Yes, this killed me since I wasn't used to much activity.  But, I rebounded after a day or two of rest and haven't stopped since.  So, goal setting is very important.

Third, you have to find some form of "external motivation".  Whether be friends or family, or maybe there is a local walking group in your community.  If not, start one up instead of waiting on someone else too.  If you are scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to finding others to participate, look online.  There are communities online that are there to help.  Sites like Endomondo, LiveStrong, etc. are there for the purpose of helping you.  Sure, sites likes these have paid services.  But usually they offer some free services by way of forums and message boards or even online fitness trackers that you can share on Facebook or Twitter.  And believe me, I have used some of these (and still do use a couple) and they can be a big help.

I am by no means, a fitness expert or a doctor of any kind.  However, the above points are what continues to help me everyday.  If you have other factors for motivation, chime in below with a comment and share with all of us as we may need the help too!

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Credits: Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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