Motivation: don't think.

I've blogged about the big motivation stuff, like wanting to be healthy. But that's not always enough to get exercise to happen daily or regularly. It's a whole lot of smaller things like having a strong routine, doing things you enjoy, doing things with friends.

However, I have one special tip. This is the best motivation advice I've found. It's counter-intuitive, but it makes a lot of sense: Don't think, do.

Don't think about something you don't want to do, or you'll use up all your willpower too early. Which means, in the middle of the afternoon I sometimes feel really tired. I hate the thought of exercise. Actually, I hate the thought of doing anything after work, like grocery shopping. This afternoon I actually googled "I need a grocery shopping list" because I know I need food but I'm too sluggish to anticipate the supermarket.  Massive energy dip. And I start thinking "I'm too weary to do Jillian today, should I skip it? I should do it, but I'm really not in the mood" over and over and then I exhaust myself mentally way too early and by the time I get home I hate myself and I've given up and there is no energy to do anything.

But I googled this, and realised I should just cut out the whole afternoon of thinking part. I try and not spend 3pm onwards worrying about how tired and unmotivated I feel and use up all my willpower long before I actually need it, hours later. The amazing power of not thinking! Harness that power, my friends. I try and block out the thoughts, forget about future exertions, go home as normal, put my Jillian clothes on, put the dvd on, and start warming up. None of that is hard, it's only hard if you think about all the actual exercise. So don't think. Once I'm warming up, it's usually not so bad. Sometimes it IS so bad, I find I actually AM genuinely tired, but I really can't tell until I start.