A Word on Motivation

It’s that time of year again.

We’ve said goodbye to the sun and have grudgingly said hello to the cold, wind, and rain.

It’s that time of year again.

We’ve said goodbye to the sun and have grudgingly said hello to the cold, wind, and rain.

Motivation dips.

Mojo stalls.

Our get-up-and-go seems like a distant memory.

It really doesn’t help that seem to have skipped autumn and journied straight to winter.

Happens every year, yet we can’t seem to help our mood from dropping.

I’m not immune to it, by any means.

I put off running my last hard run before next weekend’s marathon until 3pm the other day.

It was originally planned for 8am, but I didn’t want to run in the rain and it literally got to ‘now or never’ territory before I finally plucked up the impetus to get it done.

(If I didn’t have the marathon next weekend, I’d lprobably have skipped it.)

I found myself scratching my head as to how I’m going to manage to keep my running fitness up through winter so I can run another PB next year…

Obviously, there are solutions.

But, with the change of season, it feels like our brain does its best to bury these deep beneath a seemingly unmoveable layer of barriers and excuses.

Alas, motivation and self-discipline are two very different things.

When we’re motivated, it’s easy to be disciplined.

We set alarms (and answer them), we lay our workout clothes out the night before, we prep our meal/do our food shop.

We get it done – and we’re always glad we did.

When motivation dips, self-discipline seems to go out the window.

We can’t seem to muster a positive thought, let alone string a series of positive steps together.

We feel like we’re stuck in the mud.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

I believe it’s a fight we can win.

It’s as simple as (and as challenging as), digging deep and relying on our self-discipline.

In the absence of motivation, that’s all we’ve got.

In the absence of both, we’re in trouble.

What this looks like for me…

Whether I want to or not, I know I’m going to hit my protein target every day.

I’m going to exercise five days per week.

And I’m going to prioritise rest and recovery.

Fairly simple when written in three short lines, eh?

But seriously, these are a few of the habits I’ve bust a gut to implement over the past two decades; and ramped up over the last six months in preparation for a marathon PB attempt.

If I let them any of them go, I know my weight will creep up.

I’ll lose muscle, I’ll gain body fat, my sleep won’t be as high quality;

My energy levels through the day won’t be as consistent,;

My ability to perform both at work and at home will fall off a cliff.

And, even more obviously, I won’t achieve my goal in the marathon.

I simply cant afford to fall off the wagon.

I need to stay on it, in-spite of a dip in motivation, mood, and weather.

If you’re feeling the winter blues already, I implore you to join me.

Stay on it.

Stick to your routine (or adapt your current routine).

Continue to focus on your health and fitness.

The blues will pass and when they do…

You’ll be glad you did.

In the words of Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle:

“…through discipline comes freedom.”

‍