During my earlier online fitness coaching days, there was one question that stumped me.
It was always some variation of “How do I stay motivated to pursue my goals?” or “Some days I have motivation and others I don’t. What do I do?”
Now that I've transitioned into time-management coaching, this question still haunts my clients.
It’s difficult because I can’t motivate someone externally. I can teach them what to do and why to do it, hold them accountable for it, help them change things when it stops working, etc, but I can’t motivate them.
My solution for this is called the “Baseline/Bonus” plan.
Motivation comes in waves. What I’m proposing is a two-step plan.
First, pick something to be your “baseline”. The baseline is something that you can commit to doing every day regardless of how motivated you are.
For this, don’t ask yourself what you CAN do (I have time, etc). Instead, think about how you feel and what you’re doing on those low-motivation days, and pick something that you know you WILL do then.
Nothing is off limits here. Nothing is too small. It can be setting your phone on the other side of the room so you have to get up with your alarm, creating a schedule to follow for the first time, etc.
You’ll be amazed at what being consistent with something can do for you and how it can help you build on this. It’s laying a foundation of good habits, and it's giving you some wins.
Next, choose one or two “bonuses”.
These are for the days when your motivation is high, your baseline is done, and you want to do something else.
It could be doing something longer than you normally would, automating something in your life (calendar, etc), revising your schedule, etc.
And by the way, forget what anyone else thinks of this. You can keep thinking what you’re doing isn’t good enough and stay stuck in a perpetual cycle, or you can start small and build something that will last.
If you need help with this, message me.
If you use the Baseline/Bonus strategy, let me know what you choose for each!
Comments