We've all been there; bought a new pair of trainers, joined the gym, perhaps even enlisted the help of a personal trainer.
We're feeling excited and motivated about our future - imagining walking along feeling confident, jeans fitting nicely, bingo wings but a distant memory.
Then a few days later that excitement and motivation have gone.
The "can'tbearseditis" kicks in. Phrases like...
"Oh... I'll just have that one doughnut - it'll be fine!" and...
"I'll sack the gym off for now and lose a bit of weight first" start sneaking in.
Next thing you know, our end goal seems too far off and we jack it all in.
It's just... too...much... EFFORT!
But what happened?! Why was there a sudden change from rearing to go to "Oh, I'll just leave it?"
Dopamine levels. That's what happened.
Because us humans absolutely THRIVE on dopamine.
And we get dopamine hits when we either do something that we enjoy and makes us feel good.
Or...
We imagine ourselves doing it.
And that's the top problem most of us have when it comes to achieving long-term goals.
Because that initial dopamine hit you get when you decide you're going to take action, and imagine yourself feeling
"stronger, fitter, healthier and happier"
is going to deplete, because it only lasts for a certain amount of time and then it's gone.
So if you don't replenish it, then you'll start feeling rubbish about the whole thing and will start seeking out other sources of dopamine - often food.
So how do we counter this?
The first thing you need to be aware of are SMART goals.
And that they're smart by name and smart by nature.
Now we've got our long term SMART goals, such as slipping back into those jeans and waving "BYE!!!" to the bingo wings!
But in order to achieve that long-term goal, we need to set short-term goals.
Because if we have an objective we need to meet and we achieve it, we get a sense of self-efficacy and satisfaction.
That in turn gives us a hit of dopamine.
And it really doesn't take that much, you know!
It could be as simple as eating a piece of fruit at lunch, if that's something you'd not normally do.
Or spying your delts, which you never even knew existed, popping in the mirror during some lat raises.
The common denominator is that hit of dopamine.
It keeps us going.
It scratches that itch that we need scratching, to keep pushing us forward towards the long term-goal.
So if you're finding it hard to stick to your diet or planned exercise.
It may just be that you need to set yourself some real short-term goals to get your dopamine hits more often.
And this is a skill that can take a fair bit of practice. But once you've mastered it...
You can do ANYTHING!
Need help figuring out how much and what you should be eating, what exercise you should be doing and how to do it, and how to set yourself SMART goals that keep your motivation levels tip top?
Then book in for a free consultation call to discuss how I can help.
Your success if guaranteed, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Your personal trainer (the last you'll ever need - in person and anywhere across the globe),
Alex
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