Powerful Motivation Strategies

Every single year an absurd number of people make New Year’s resolutions come to the start of January. New year, new me, right? They promise that they will start eating better, that they will get into the gym five days per week, that they will finally train for that marathon. And then, the motivation slowly vanishes.

Try these powerful motivation strategies

Most people run out of steam, and then the end of February comes around and more than 90% of the people who made a new year’s resolutions have completely given up – which is an absolutely insane amount of people, mind you.

There’s always next year, right?

But who is to say that you won’t go through the exact same vicious cycle next year? That the exact same thing won’t happen again?

Well, I have a better option.

A much better option.

Keep trying. Don’t wait for a special day to start but start again now – and make sure you keep yourself motivated using the three powerful motivation strategies in this article.

1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew

To be completely honest, one of the main reasons I think that people struggle to keep their resolutions is because they try and do too much. They try and change their entire life in the space of a single day.

It’s really no wonder that most people fail come February.

You see, when it comes to maintaining motivation for your training, you want to make your exercise routine habitual – and building habits that actually last tends to take quite a bit of time and willpower.

Moreover, the larger the change, the more willpower you need to have to implement it.

And the kicker here? Your willpower is finite.

Yep, you only have so much available to you before it runs out, and everything falls apart.

So, the trick here is to start small and choose things that are quite easy to stick to (and therefore require very little willpower).

For example. If your goal is losing ten pounds, then don’t start with a complete diet overhaul and five exercise sessions per week, but start with something that is easily achievable.

Try starting with two training sessions per week, and aim to stop snacking after dinner.

Simple? Yep.

Only uses a small amount of willpower? Yep.

Will they help you achieve your goals? A massive YEP.

Then over time (and once these changes have become completely habitual), you can introduce an extra session per week, or make another small change in your diet – this is a great way to make sure you keep your motivation high, and your progress moving forward.

2. Make your goals process orientated

Most resolutions and goals tend to be outcome-focused.

Think, I want to run 12km in 50 minutes, or lose 10 pounds in 6 weeks – they are both focused on the outcome, or the end result (so to speak).

While this may make sense from a pure performance perspective, this type of focus can actually create quite a bit of discord throughout your exercise journey. You see, progress is never linear – with anything exercise-related, you will experience good days and bad days.

Using the running example above, you might find that one day running 5km takes you 20 minutes, but then the next it takes you 30 minutes.

You then get disheartened because you’re not making progress, and your motivation wanes.

This could be the same for anything weight loss-related.

If you are doing regular weigh-ins, you might find that on some days your weight goes down, but others it actually goes up. While this daily fluctuation is completely normal (as long as the weight is trending down over a longer period of time), seeing that increase on the scale can derail everything.

However, if you make your goals process orientated, then you have a much better chance of success.

In the same running scenario, rather than aiming for a specific distance in a specific time, make your goal to get in three running sessions per week for 10 weeks. Every week that you manage your three runs you will feel good because you have achieved your goal – irrespective of how quick you ran.

This builds more motivation and more consistency, which will eventually result in you obtaining a faster running time – without you even focusing on it.

3. Have a contingency plan

Something I have alluded to in the above points is that success breeds success.

If you can successfully manage one thing on a regular basis, then you are going to be more likely to keep maintaining that on a regular basis. Essentially, the more you do, the more likely you are to keep doing it.

However, the reverse is also true.

If you fail to achieve a goal you have set, then an abundance of negative thoughts and feelings are guaranteed. This can lead to the perception that an entire training week has been ruined, that you will never achieve your goal, and that there is no point even trying.

As silly as this may seem when it is written down like this, this is a very common occurrence.

But it doesn’t have to be. Especially if you have a good contingency plan.

You see, life is busy, unpredictable, and varied. You might have your perfect week planned out workouts and all, and then suddenly life comes along and throws all your plans out the window – taking heaps of your time and energy in the process.

Now, in either scenario, most people would just give up. Just say this week is too hard and that they will start again next week. Which as we know, will result in more negativity, and less motivation.

A much better option is to have a backup plan. Something you can always revert to if life throws you a curveball.

And the perfect backup plan is a home workout.

When life throws you a lemon (and let’s face it, it will) then the perfect alternative is to have a great workout that you can do at home in 20-30 minutes.

Home workouts for women

Considering the above point, I have put together a couple of workouts that (in my opinion) can act as the ideal contingency plan.

When it comes to home workouts for women, you want to make them lower body dominant, and challenging – you would be amazed at how effective this can be.

Set the timer to 20 or 30 minutes and complete as many rounds as possible.

Exercises	Reps
Squat Jumps	5 reps
Alternating Split Squat Jumps	5 reps per side
Walking lunges	15 reps per side
Alternating Reverse Lunges	12 reps per side
Air Squat	25 reps
Double leg glute bridge	20 reps
Reverse crunches	12 reps

Home workouts for men

Alternatively, when it comes to home workouts for men, I like making them more upper body dominant, with the inclusion of some lower body exercises to change it up a touch.

Set the timer to 20 or 30 minutes and complete as many rounds as possible.

Exercises	Reps
Alternating Split Squat Jumps	5 reps per side
Plyometric ‘clap’ push-ups	5 reps
Bulgarian split squat (back leg on the couch)	15 reps per side
Close hand push up	12 reps
Wide hand push up	15 reps
Air Squat	50 reps
Yoga push up	12 reps
Jack Knifes	20 reps

Wrap-Up

Keeping your mindset positive and your workout motivation high after the start of the year can be a real challenge – but there are certainly some important strategies you can use to make sure that you keep progressing no matter the circumstances!

The three powerful motivation strategies outlined in this article offer the perfect way to change your mindset and enhance your motivation – to give them a go and let us know what you think!