Determined Motivation

This gym experience I talk about often has done more than just changed my physical appearance. It has given me a group of people to be friends with, but more than just that, a support system of other FIRE members. We have some Facebook groups, and then you get to be friends with a lot of them, in that Facebook way. A lot of interaction is available, and I am learning to use that to my advantage.

There are a lot of people that physical activity comes easy to them, maybe they were raised that way. Hey kids, let’s be active and healthy! Doesn’t sound even remotely familiar to me. We were pretty active kids, but in that run around the neighborhood sort of way. Not to be physically fit or athletic. More like being able to throw toilet paper high into the tree sort of a way. And what I am finding is that a lot of us are that way. Making the connection between activity and progress takes more for some of us.

One friend from FIRE wrote a pretty candid post yesterday, describing her struggles and her limitations. She is frustrated that things aren’t progressing the way it seems to for some others. It really hit me, and our paths are different, but I feel some of what she wrote too. Lots of us did, because there were tons of replies, positive ones to help keep her motivated. There is the thing, I know she is motivated, but it kind of comes and goes for many of us. She wants those changes, she has had a taste of it, but frustration gets a hold, and doubt creeps in. I feel she is determined, and the support she gets from her FIRE location is fierce. People are definitely on her side. How do you connect all of it?

It doesn’t help that the time change and temperature drop coincided like an evil plot against humanity. It gets hard to get motivated when your snot freezes inside your nose when you open the door. So you have to tap into determination. I am determined to make that change. What’s your motivation? It seems simple that it should be the Change you are determined to achieve. But sometimes that won’t cut it. So turn to the people around you. You can get through a lot if someone next to you tells you “You Can Do It!!” They can tell you until you can believe it on your own. That is where this group fitness mentality has helped me the most. I have been able to kick a lot of my self-doubt to the curb with a push from the person next to me.

That is what I guess I want to instill here- you don’t always have to be motivated. But have that determination. If you have that, someone else can lift you up to your motivation. Let them, they want to help you because most likely their motivation slipped and they had someone encourage them until they believed it too. It’s transferable to a lot of things in life, not just this gym stuff. The gym is just the best place it clicked for me. I always felt like a loner, that is why I always failed at weight loss and working out, until I got to a place where they had the motivation waiting for me, if I brought the determination to change.

Surround yourself with people who want you to be better. They are better too, when you succeed. It makes a circle of success that will manifest itself in other parts of life. You can get through the lull you feel if you reach out. Be a person who wants to help too, don’t just turn into yourself and lock others out. What I saw in that post, in the responses to a good strong woman, showed me how much people want to be there for others. It was beautiful to see the social media work the way it should.