Success: Just Do It

In my post yesterday I talked about determination versus motivation. I am a big fan of motivation. I like to find new ways to motivate myself to do things I don’t like to do. I like taking a difficult task and making a game out of it. Rewards are always helpful in motivation. How many people could lose 20 pounds if someone was willing to give them a million dollars to do it? I bet many people would even do it for a thousand dollars. While motivation is great it doesn’t always work in the long run. It’s hard to stay motivated. Boredom or apathy soon take over and once the motivation is gone so is the intended action or goal.

I have found John Maxwell’s quote…

“The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that’s when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.”

to be quite true. In the past month I have been trying to motivate myself to start the Body for Life exercise program again. I have looked for someone to start the program with me. Maybe even a weight loss contest. Nothing seemed to work out. With the holidays coming nobody wanted to take on the challenge.

Body for Life is a pretty big commitment with weight training 45 minutes/day for three days a week and 20 minutes of Aerobics three other days. You do get a free day every week. The basic program lasts 12 weeks. This exercise program along with a sensible eating plan works wonders.

But it’s not easy. It actually rather painful and takes lots of motivation.

After I read John’s Quotation… I asked myself… how about determination? His key words “Just Do It” flashed across my mind.

I woke up yesterday morning and said those words first thing… and you know what… I did it.

I did the same thing today… and I did it again.

Maybe there is something to this “determination” stuff?