Falling in ‘like’ with exercise
I have a confession: I really don’t like exercise 😫
But, we all know it’s important, so I’ve been trying to up my motivation levels for it this year and so far, so good. For the first time, it actually feels like my inner voice is eagerly encouraging me, instead of telling me off all the time 😅.
What’s brought about the change for me, I hear you asking: a motivation formula I learned last year from the author of the New York Times Bestseller Bool ‘Limitless’ and amazing brain trainer, Jim Kwik.
The Motivation Formula
I don’t know about you, but before I learned Jim Kwik’s formula, I kind of always assumed motivation wasn’t really more than a feeling of excitement to do something.
Which meant I never felt motivated to exercise, lol.
But Kwik’s formula states there are 3 elements that impact our motivation:
Motivation = PXEXS3
If you’re as clueless about what this means as I was to begin with, don’t worry, I’ll be breaking the elements down for the next 3 posts.
P = Purpose
As Simon Sinek has taught us, we need to ‘start with the why’ and that is exactly what this 1. element is calling us to do.
We need to figure out how whatever behaviour we are trying to start (or stop) aligns with our wider purpose in life. How can what you have intended/resolved to do, move you further along in achieving your big life goals?
Because truthfully, if what we want to do doesn’t help us become more of the person we want to be, it won’t take long until we lose interest in pursuing it. Similarly, if we’re not clear on who we want to be, our goals will lack the necessary aim to make them impactful.
For me, this has meant truly being honest with myself about the way lack of exercise is affecting my quality of life.
The person I want to be is:
- healthy and fit;
- someone who can run around with their future children;
- someone who doesn’t carry on negative family medical histories;
- someone who doesn’t hate exercise.
Pursuing Purpose
If you are struggling with this part of the motivation formula, ask yourself:
1. Who is the person I want to be?
2. What do I think is my purpose?
3. Does my intended goal align with that?
If you don’t know where to start with answering these questions, contact me to discuss coaching opportunities.