For those of you who read my post last week, you know that I am attempting to complete a month long mental cleanse challenge. Last week’s focus was self-care: something I speak a lot about but needed to make more of an effort to incorporate back into my own life (hence why I started this challenge).
Week 1. I am happy to announce that I was indeed successful in completing every item on the list last week! Although I did take an extra few days to complete it and I didn’t necessarily do one each day, I completed it none the less. The first week’s list of challenges acted like a list of ideas to accomplish when I was feeling down or out of sorts. Self-care is important and it is crucial that we learn these techniques and know strategies that work for us when we feel overwhelmed. Last week’s list was an awesome way of reminding me of the things that bring me back to my core when I’m not feeling like myself.
Overall, I would call my first week of this 30 Day Challenge: A SUCCESS
Week 2. Here is this week’s challenge:
I have found this week’s list to be more difficult for me. I am an active person, but between working full-time and volunteering and trying to keep a relatively active social life, exercising is not always high on my list. In my defence, I try to keep my work and social lives as active as possible (between running up and down stairs and changing kegs at work work or going for a hike with my friends), and I do enjoy a run outside a few times a week. But there are still days that I know I need to get up and moving but I just don’t have the energy or the motivation to do so. This week’s challenge has become more of a balancing act between staying active and knowing when I need a break rather than just finding the time to complete these tasks.
This brings me to motivation. Motivation is something I have a hard time forming an opinion about. On one hand, I believe that motivation is manufactured and that it is something you just make for yourself: something you don’t necessarily acquire, but have to force yourself to feel. But on the other hand, I know from experience that it is also something that just comes to you, that motivation can be something you feel one day, but not the next. Maybe one day you can spend 3 hours perfecting a 1,500 word blog post but the next day you don’t even want to write a 10 word text. Here lies my problem: because I KNOW some days I will feel good and body-posi and feel motivated to care of myself, sometimes I don’t bother doing it unless I feel like it. I tell myself that even though I don’t feel like it now, I will feel like it eventually and I should only do it then. But I also know deep in my heart that by CREATING motivation and forcing myself to do it, I will force myself to feel like it now and ultimately feel better. This is a difficult thing to tell yourself and an even more difficult thing to actually do. Here are some of the strategies I have learned over the years to help carry out what I like to call false or forced motivation:
- Write It Down: write down your good and bad thoughts and critically evaluate them as if you are a third party judge. if you are feeling down and don’t want to get out of bed, write that! write the pros and cons of not getting out of bed compared to something else that might make you feel better. for example: getting out of bed is hard but staying in bed will make me feel dirty and more tired so maybe I’ll try having a shower and calling a friend.
- Have A List Ready: on a good day, make a list of things you enjoy doing; things that make you happy. have a range of activities from minimal effort to maximum effort (things like painting your nails, having a bath or sitting outside to going for a walk, hanging out with a friend, or even going to the gym). don’t put too much pressure on yourself to complete many of the things on your list, just maybe pick one and make it your goal to do it sometime that week.
- Think Ahead: I read somewhere that it helps to increase motivation if you prepare ahead of time. for example if you want to go to the gym more, pack your gym bag ahead of time. this minimizes the effort it actually takes to get yourself there and you can just focus on making yourself go: no excuses. some days it will take me hours to motivate myself to go for a run, but if I change into my running clothes and sit around for a bit, it becomes more of a psychological effort to change again then just to go out and run first.
- Mentally Prepare Yourself: psych yourself up!! tell yourself all the good things that will come from doing whatever it is you’re wanting to do. look up some mantras and affirmations (check out my previous blog post or my Pinterest board to get you started), or just list the reasons why it is important for you to accomplish this goal.
- Go Easy On Yourself: love and kindness is the most effective way to get someone to do what you want…THIS INCLUDES YOURSELF! if you tell yourself you are worthless if you don’t accomplish this goal today, you’re never going to do it and then you’ll just feel worse about yourself. tell yourself you are doing this for your health and well being and that you are loved whether you accomplish it or not. tell yourself that bringing yourself to do this is the hardest part; even harder than the act itself. tell yourself that because you pushed through the lack of motivation that you are strong (because you are damn it)!!
I hope you have found strength and encouragement from this post. Please feel free to join me in this journey of my mental cleanse challenge and comment your progress. I would love to know your motivational strategies.
~Alisha
Just Peachy Positivity 