Want motivation on weight loss? Don’t rely on your willpower!

Controversial advice – I know, but there is psychological proof for it, so please bear with me and I’ll explain.

Most advice you’ll hear about how to get motivated and keep motivated when losing weight (or for any other goal in life actually), will teach you to rely on your will power for the support you need.

You’ve heard it all, right? And did any of the advice work?

You see – the problem with relying just on your will power to get you through the tough times, is that your will power is finite.

Research shows that it’s like a muscle. You over-use it and it fatigues. If you don’t let it rest sufficiently enough to recover, it won’t be much use to you for the rest of the day.

The added problem is that we don’t just use our will power to get us to stick to a weight loss or healthy living plan.

No – we use it all day long. From the moment you stop the alarm in the morning, trying to get out of bed and get ready for the day. Then when we’re getting the kids ready… Then countless times at work… and then back at home in the evenings. Our will power ‘muscle’ is pumped all day long.

No wonder that by the end of the day we collapse on the couch with zero energy. And the next obstacle we face will face zero resistance.

Oreos? Yes please )

Bottom line is that if you have nothing else to fall on to for motivation, you will not succeed at losing weight and more importantly keeping it off.

So what’s the alternative or the solution?

The way to make sure you have weight loss motivation "on tap”, is to use your will power to get you going, and then to form techniques and habits to reinforce and back you up each time you feel you’re wavering.

The techniques are very logical. But making them into a habit, i.e. an action that requires little to no conscious thought on your behalf is not so simple.

But before you run for the hills at the challenge, hear my 5-step system to forming "on tap” motivation. And know that it takes about 30 days of consistent application to start form a habit. Just 30 days!

This 5-step system can be applied to every side of your life – not just weight loss. Imagine if every time you needed to motivate yourself to get something done, or to resist doing something, you can just turn on your motivation "tap”…

So let’s get on with the practical bits. Pay attention – I will only write this once )

Hide Comments | Add Comment