How To Get Motivated

My friend Alan messaged me yesterday about motivation. He said that he wants to work out more but he doesn’t have any friends who are working out regularly to help motivate him, and he wonders how I get myself out the door.

It’s a good question, because I have got to be the laziest person in the world. For me to work out at all, let alone five or six days a week, is nothing short of a miracle, and Alan remembers me from a time when I was more likely to lay down six hot dogs than six miles. He and I lived together many years ago. His fraternity name was Whiteboy, and I believe I may be the last remaining person who calls him that.

Restless to be Better

I guess the short answer is I’m motivated because I want the kinds of things that Alan has. He has a beautiful, macromolecular chemist for a wife. He’s got cute kids, a great job, and a nice house. He likes cars and races autocross events. Even his parents and brother are awesome.

I guess what I’m saying is I’m learning a lesson from Alan merely because he asked me about motivation. Alan is living the American dream, but he’s still restless to be better.

Also I think it bears mentioning that everyone is going to have their own motivations, so even if I tell you everything that motivates me (e.g. boobies) it won’t necessarily work for you. You may not even care about boobies that much.

That said, here are a few thoughts.

Do Not Rely on Work Out Partners

It seems like this would work better than it does. If I agree that Alan and I are going to work out then that will motivate me to get to get out the door, right?

What actually happens is we become two points of failure together. If Alan’s too busy one day, and let’s face it he’s got a lot on his plate, I might say “Hm, well I should work out but Alan isn’t going…” and then end up working out the fastest way to get Fritos into my fat mouth while lying on a couch.

It’s much better to rely on no one but yourself for your workout schedule. If other people want to come along, that is awesome, but I found that I was likely to adopt less productive habits if I relied on others. Having said that…

Workout Groups are Great

I had a lot of luck with joining run groups, workout clubs and race teams. Pretty much every bike shop in the world leads at least one ride a week. It’s the same with running shoe stores. Look up when their group runs or group rides are, and go do them often enough that if you miss one people ask you where you were the next time you go.

There are also running clubs, tri clubs, cycling clubs — clubs out the wazoo, and you don’t have to be a world class athlete to join them. Most of the people in them are regular folks just trying to live a fit life.

I swam every Monday night as part of Peachtree Tri Club in Georgia Tech’s pool for a year and a half… wearing a speedo. I’m talkin’ full on speedo with my fat guy belly and hairy back and no one said a word about it other than “Welcome”.

And hey, you might meet some friends… possibly even some friends who are interested in sharing their boobies with you. I’m just saying, there are a lot of benefits.

Get Going!

Probably the best thought I can share is just get going, whatever it takes. Make working out a part of your life, even if you start in a teeny tiny way.

If you can stand up, get your shoes on and walk out the door you’ve done the hard part. The actual workouts are a snap!