On Inspiration, Motivation & Focus

Four days have passed since millions of Americans have made the ritualistic New Year’s resolution in hopes of improving the quality of their lives. Gym memberships are skyrocketing, credit card companies will be seeing more bills being paid on time, and more people will be hiding  a nicotine patch under shirtsleeves. Sadly, the odds are against the majority and most of these people will not accomplish what they set out to. We have all seen time and time again what happens with 99.9% of the claims made on New Year’s day; they fizzle out like the fireworks in Time Square. However, you are not the majority and you will accomplish what you intend to do if you follow my advice I will give you in this post.

What happens to the majority of people when they first make a New Year’s resolution? They get excited, they are focused on the task at hand, and they have motivation. These are the ingredients for success. But then what happens shortly after?The excitement dies down, the focus is lost, and whatever motivation they had is kicked to the curb like an old dusty couch. The thing to understand in this situation is drastic change of thinking between when the resolution was created to the point when the plan is scrapped. At the beginning the excitement comes from a vision of the future with no regard to present. Let’s say ‘Jane’ wants to lose 30 lbs by the end of 2009 and she has it all planned out from her workout routine to her change in dieting habits. She is focusing on the task at hand, working hard, and making progress. But one week she gets swamped at work, to save time she eats fast and unhealthy, and skips out on her visits to the gym. Later in the week  Jane looks at herself in the mirror and becomes depressed with her body and her self. The seed is planted.

At the exact point Jane criticises herself in the mirror, her mental process has just made a complete 360. She went from focusing on the future to the unhappy thoughts of being trapped in a body that doesn’t make her feel good. “Who am I kidding? I’ll be overweight for the rest of my life. Might as well just accept it,” Jane barks angerly to herself in the mirror. Jane has given up. The depression increases her need to eat comfort foods and went from being on the path of getting in great shape and healthy to putting on additional weight and additional health risks. Sounds awful but it happens to thousands of people all the time and will surely happen to many men and women who are trying to better themselves in 2009.

I am using this example for the simple fact that it is easy to illustrate and since obesity is a serious issue in our country, it is easy to relate to. An important thing to note is that my advice can be applied to any goals, both physical and the nonphysical.

When on your quest to tackle your new goals you need to get excited about them. This is sometimes easier said then done as the going gets tough, but you know what they say about the tough(and you are tough, baby!). You need to be excited but this doesn’t mean you are going to be ansy to get to the gym(or where ever) every single day of the week, not quite. If this were always the case, what you have is a hobby! The best thing that works for me is look for inspiration where ever I can get it. Inspiration breeds motivation and vice versa. For those of you who have been in my room in my apartment know that I have things that inspire me absolutely everywhere. I have pictures of my team, pictures of my favorite runners, usually something inspirational on my desktop background, and 9 times out of 10 I will have some phrase I read or created printed and taped on my door to be seen each time I walk out of my room to go into the world; right now my door says “Yesterday Means Nothing.” I am constantly reading books that inspire me and listening to music that has good vibes. A lot of people tell me they have trouble finding inspiration and you may be in the same boat. Inspiration most certainly doesn’t have to come from a famous person, it doesn’t have to come from a person at all. Just find something that is amazing and beautiful to you and embrace it. Use this to get excited about your life and your goals.

Inspiration is vital, but without focus you will just be spinning your tires in the mud. Decide what you want to be and how you are going to achieve it. Then focus on the future, create this image of yourself in your mind and walk through the world with this image, not an image that makes you unhappy. Focus on the gains you have made and reward yourself for them. Always, and I mean always, acknowledge a gain no matter how small you think it is. Personally, I have struggled with beating myself up regularly and forgetting to see the gigantice leaps I have made in my life. When I neglected to acknowledge my accomplishments I placed myself in a dark emotional abyss; not a fun place to be.

Now some time for some tough love. As a distance runner my life is about enduring pain every single day of the week. People constantly tell me “oh, I wish running was fun for me like it is for you,” or “how do you stay motivated all the time?” The truth is, while I love running with all my heart, I’m not always running through the trails every day with a big smile on my face or jumping for joy when my mileage plan says I have 110 miles to run this week. I try to make it as fun as possible(which it often is) but that’s not what it’s about and most people can’t comprehend that. Training at this level can get dark in a hurry, depression runs rampant with collegiate distance runners who can’t maintain positive thinking.  The turnover rate of athletes who choose to leave the team is unreal compared to other college sports and I have watched my closets friends battle running induced depression and leave our family. But what happens to most of them is the lose of focus that I stated above. So here is the tough love: sometimes inspiration runs out temporarily. Sometimes the motivation has to be the simple fact that its something you need to do. Don’t think about it, don’t question it, just get out the door and do what you need to do. It’s not always going to be fun but the rewards of your accomplishments will always outweigh the hardships. The juice is worth the squeeze.

I wish everyone prosperity and the strength to chase their dreams in 2009. Remember, it is never too late to be who you want to be. When will you start?