What’s My Motivation?
Posted by Blogger@ dsiiti.com on Mon, Apr 19, 2010 @ 02:00 PM
Does anyone remember those Sprite commercials with they guy that always says, ‘Excuse me...What’s my motivation?’ I, along with many Americans, struggle with the answer to this epic question constantly when it comes to exercise. Why? Let’s be honest, it’s a heck of a lot easier NOT to workout and just use excuses like ‘I don’t have time’ or ‘I’m allergic to sweat and it gives me hives.’
After 27 years of self-examination, I’ve concluded that I’m an idiot! Seriously, it’s like I hopped into the gene pool while the lifeguard wasn’t looking!! Allow me to explain.
Back in high school, I was playing organized football, baseball, and track & field while playing most other sports in some form of a pick-up game fashion. I was competitive! My philosophy was “I don’t play unless I think I can win!” For example, I choose not to play the longest game ever invented, Monopoly! What’s my beef with Monopoly? Even though I’m a pretty sly cheater that volunteers to be the ‘Banker’ (whom I consider to be the ‘Bank Robber’) which allows me to constantly pad my pockets with more rainbow-colored money than I’ll ever make in my entire lifetime, I know my patience simply won’t hold up long enough to win a game that takes over 3 ½ days to complete! So, I keep it simple and not to brag, but I am one kick-butt Hungry Hungry Hippo champion...I have a belt!
Okay...so back to why I’m an idiot! Back in high school when I actually had things to play for in my organized sports career (i.e. college offers, scholarships, fame & fortune, multi-million dollar signing bonuses, a yacht with hot chicks in bikinis, etc.) I was nowhere near as competitive as I am now! I mean, I just got mad when I was typing this blog because spell check found an error! How about this spell check...I did mean to type ‘hungry’ twice in the previous paragraph because that’s the name of the game...stupid spell check thinking its better than me! I always give it my best effort when it came to sports but for some reason I simply didn’t have the drive I have today! But why? Why did I
take every shortcut I could when it came to weight training and conditioning for high school football/track when now I workout twice a day and have nothing to workout for?
Short answer is that I didn’t find my motivation back then. I couldn’t find my driving force because I was just a naïve high school kid that didn’t know what he wanted. I wanted to hang out with friends, learn to drive a car, & have fun! Exercise wasn’t ‘fun’ to me back then...and a faster metabolism back then allowed me not to consider working out a ‘necessary evil.’
My advice is to ask yourself the question, ‘What’s my motivation?’ You get what you put into it so what are you looking for. To not be embarrassed at the beach? To fight genetics? To live a long healthy life? To be there for your spouse? To be around to watch your children grow up? To protect your family? To build self confidence? To have fun? Self-defense? Even if you just like looking at yourself in the mirror, you need to find your motivation and USE IT to attain your goals!