October Motivation Challenge Wrap-Up: Motivational Toolkits

Even though October is over, it’s not yet time to leave the challenge behind.  In fact, the activities you completed in October are now an important part of your fitness journey: they are your motivational toolkit.

What might you find in a regular toolbox?  A hammer for driving nails?  A level for making sure things are even?  A tape measure?  Screwdrivers?  Each of these tools has its purpose for solving different problems.

In your motivational toolkit, you have created for yourself the following:

• Your list of what moves you.  10 poignant reminders of why you are on this journey. Read back over this at least once every month (set a calendar reminder if you need to – I do!) and update it whenever you achieve a goal or change your focus.
• Your vision board. A slice of the life that you’re working to build. Look back at this weekly, if not more often, and add to it whenever you find something that really depicts what you’re working toward.  Keep other images elsewhere – let this vision board be uncluttered and heartfelt.
• Your mini-goal. This mini-goal is completed, but you can always come back to this strategy.  Set a simple, achievable goal for each week or each two-week interval and, little by little, you’ll get where you’re going.
• Your motivational mantra. You may find that you need to update your mantra once a month or once a year – change it up when your inspirational phrase no longer inspires you or no longer fits where you are on your journey.  I remember mine at the start of every workout.
• Your excuse busters. You’ve defeated your main excuse, but other excuses may crop up in its place.  Now you have a method for outsmarting them and staying committed to your goals…despite yourself 🙂

This challenge was about more than winning a cool prize – it was about building yourself some survival tools for the obstacles and speedbumps that will be a part of your journey.  I am happy to motivate you as your trainer, but I’m not with you 24/7.  I can’t always be there to tell you whether or not to eat the brownie, or to decide if you should rest or work out.  These tools will help you help yourself to make the best decisions and continue your journey each day.

So, don’t let these tools gather dust.  Make use of the investment you’ve made and let it carry you through the tougher days.  They will come.  They always do.  But they never mean that you need to give up.