And Its Ok to Get Low as Long as We Get Up Again
Accept you ever set up a goal for yourself, like getting fit, making honor roll, or existence picked for a team? Like lots of people, maybe you started out doing dandy, but then lost some of that drive and had trouble getting motivated again.
You lot're Not Alone!
Everyone struggles with staying motivated and reaching their goals. Just look at how many people go on diets, lose weight, and then gain it dorsum once more!
The reality is that refocusing, changing, or making a new start on something, no thing how small, is a big bargain. But it'south non impossible. With the right arroyo, you can definitely exercise it.
Getting Motivated
And then how do you stay motivated and on track with your goal? It all comes down to good planning, realistic expectations, and a stick-to-it mental attitude. Here'south what yous demand to do:
First, know your goal. Showtime past writing down your major goal. Your major goal is the ultimate thing y'all'd like to see happen. For example, "I want to make accolade roll," or "I want to get fit enough to make the cross-land team," or even, "I want to play in the Olympics" are all major goals considering they're the final thing the goal setter wants to encounter happen (patently, some goals take longer and crave more work than others). It's OK to dream big. That's how people accomplish stuff. You just have to think that the bigger the goal, the more work information technology takes to become there.
Make it specific. It's easier to plan for and master a specific goal than a vague one. Let's say your goal is to get fit. That'due south pretty vague. Make information technology specific by defining what y'all want to accomplish (such as muscle tone and definition or endurance), why you want to get fit, and by when. This helps you make a programme to reach your goal.
Brand it realistic. People often carelessness their goals because their expectations are unreasonable. Possibly they expect to get ripped abs in weeks rather than months, or to quit smoking easily later on years of lighting upwards.
Let's say you want to run a marathon. If you try to run the unabridged distance of 26.2 miles tomorrow without whatsoever training, yous're unlikely to succeed. It takes the average person four months of grooming to run that far! Simply the bigger take chances is that you'll get and so bummed out that you'll give up your marathon dreams — and running — birthday.
Office of staying motivated is existence realistic about what y'all can achieve within the timeframe you've planned. Competing on the Olympic ski team is a workable goal if you are xv and already a star skier. But if you're xviii and only merely taking your first lesson, time isn't exactly on your side.
Write it down. Put your specific goal in writing. Then write it down once again. And again. Research shows that writing down a goal is role of the mental procedure of committing to it. Write your goal down every day to keep you focused and remind you how much yous desire it.
Break it downwards. Making any change takes self-bailiwick. You need to pay constant attention and then you don't get sidetracked. I way to brand this easier is to break a big goal into pocket-size steps. For example, permit's say you want to run a marathon. If it's Feb and the marathon is in Baronial, that'southward a realistic timeframe to prepare. Showtime by planning to run 2 miles and work up gradually to the distance you lot need.
Then set specific daily tasks, similar eating v servings of fruit and veggies and running a certain amount a solar day. Put these on a calendar or planner so yous tin bank check them off. Ask a coach to aid y'all set up doable mini-goals for boosted mile amounts and for tasks to improve your performance, such as exercises to build force and stamina so you'll stay motivated to run farther.
Reaching frequent, smaller goals is something to celebrate. It gives you the confidence, backbone, and motivation to keep running — or doing any it is you're aiming to do. And so advantage yourself!
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Staying Motivated
Check in with your goal. Now that you lot've broken your goal down into a series of mini-goals and daily tasks, cheque in every day.
It helps to write downward your pocket-size goals in the aforementioned way you wrote down your big goal. That way you can track what you need to do, check off tasks as you complete them, and enjoy knowing that you're moving toward your large goal.
Equally you accomplish a task, bank check information technology off on your list. Tell yourself, "Hey, I've run ten miles, I'1000 nearly halfway to my goal!" Reward yourself with something y'all promised yourself when you set your goal. Feel successful — you are! Now think alee to accomplishing the remainder of your goal: "What do I take to practice to reach 26 miles? How am I going to make the time to train?"
Writing down specific steps has another reward: If you're feeling weak on willpower you tin wait at your listing to aid yous refocus!
Recommit to your goal if y'all skid up. If you slip upward, don't give up. Forgive yourself and brand a program for getting back on track.
Pat yourself on the back for everything y'all did right. Don't vanquish yourself up, no matter how far off rail you get. Most people skid upward when trying to make a change — it'southward a natural office of the process.
Writing downwards daily tasks and mini-goals helps here too. By keeping track of things, you lot'll quickly recognize when y'all've slipped upwards, making it easier to refocus and recommit to your goal. And so instead of feeling discouraged, you can know exactly where you got off track and why.
What if yous keep slipping upward? Enquire yourself if you're really committed to your goal. If you lot are, recommit — and put it in writing. The process of writing everything downward may besides help you discover when you're non really committed to a goal. For example, possibly yous're more in love with the fantasy of being a star athlete than the reality, and there's something else that you'd rather exist or practice.
View slip-ups as lessons and reminders of why y'all're trying to make a change. When you mess up, it's not a mistake — information technology'due south an opportunity to learn something new almost yourself. Say your goal is to fight less with your brother or sister. You may learn that it's better to say, "I can't talk about this right at present" and have time to calm down when you feel your atmosphere growing out of control.
Keep a stick-to-it attitude. Visualize yourself achieving your goal: a toned yous in your prom clothes or a successful y'all scoring the winning soccer goal. Self-visualization helps you keep what you lot're trying to accomplish in mind. It helps you believe it'due south possible. Y'all can also call up your mental motion-picture show when willpower and motivation are low.
Positive self-talk besides boosts your attitude and motivation. Tell yourself, "I deserve to make the honor roll because I've actually been working hard" or "I feel corking when I swim — I'k doing well on my practice plan!"
Share with a friend. Another boost is having supportive people around you. Find a running buddy, a quit smoking buddy, or someone else with a similar goal so you can support each other. Having a goal buddy can make all the departure in times when you lot don't feel motivated — like getting upwards for that early-morning run.
If you're non getting back up from someone when y'all actually need information technology, yous may need to take a break from that friendship and surround yourself with people who want to help you lot succeed. For instance, if y'all've been going to your friend's house to written report together every Thursday after school, but now your pal is turning on the Telly, texting friends, or gabbing on the phone and ignoring your pleas to get down to work, it'south time to find another study buddy. You can't stay focused on your goal if your friend doesn't share that goal — or, even worse, is trying to hold you dorsum. Seek out others who are on the same path y'all are and work with them instead.
Don't Give up!
Ending an unhealthy behavior or creating a new, exciting one is all about taking responsibility for our lives. Finding the motivation to do it isn't necessarily easy, only it is always possible. Yous can stay motivated by writing down your goals, sticking to your schedule, and reminding yourself of what led yous to set your goal in the first identify. Alter is heady — we'd all exist very bored without it.
Good luck in reaching your goals!
Source: https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/motivation.html
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