One thing I have learned about motivation is actually taking the time to listen to yourself. Leave out all the nonsense and blind visions. It is what we call “self talk,” when you process your thoughts and emotions internally. I constantly tell myself this, “the greatest trick and valuable secret to doing anything really, really well, is loving that you get to do it all!”
Today was Movie Day—a day in which I do nothing but watch movies, and I try to have one at least once a month.
You see, I love movies :-)
And today, perhaps to rekindle my inner child, I spent 91 minutes watching a movie that I literally watched every day for an entire summer when I was 12 years old: Rocky IV.
Now, you may not agree with me that Rocky IV is one of the best movies of all time, but if you’re a Rocky fan at all, you’ve GOT to agree that it’s the absolute best out of all the Rockies (and there will be time to debate that later if you don’t :-)
I mean, what a great story, right? Rocky, avenging his best friend Apollo’s death by defeating the highly-favored, monstrous Russian on his own turf in Russia−even for someone who’s seen it 79 times like me, it’s pretty intense stuff.
But apart from that, even if you somehow didn’t care for the movie (and I can’t imagine how), Rocky IV can still teach you something extremely valuable and applicable to you and your own goals.
And that is, the raw power of motivation.
Let’s be honest, if Rocky had gone in to fight the Drago prior to Apollo or at any other time, under any other circumstances, he would have got his butt handed to him. The dude was a monster, and had Rocky outmatched in every possible way.
But because Rocky had something extremely powerful to motivate him (the fact that this guy killed his best friend), he was able to seemingly defeat some crazy odds and emerge victorious.
Let me ask you a question: What’s YOUR motivation? What is it that gets you up in the morning and over to the gym before work when everyone else is sleeping in?
What is it that allows you to regularly pass up the quick and easy (and frankly, delicious) foods that so many others regularly indulge in?
Do you have a REAL source of motivation? If you don’t, it’s highly likely you’re going to get “knocked out” by all the temptation and “easy ways out” that surround us on a daily basis.
Let’s face it, it’s a heck of a lot easier to eat whatever, whenever, and skip the whole workout thing then it is to live a fit, healthy lifestyle.
You absolutely have to have a very powerful source of motivation, because without one, your toast.
So do you have a source of motivation that keeps you going strong toward your goals each and every day? What is it?
Reaffirm it by posting it in the comments section below to start today off with renewed focus (and if you don’t value your “reason” enough to post it below, it’s probably safe to say that you don’t really have one).
Talk to you in the comments section!
Joel
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I have several things in my life thatget me up at 5 and to the gym. One is my daughter. She is 5 now and already pretends to have boyfriends. by the time she is old enough to date (around 25) I commit to being HUGE, but more importantly STRONG!
My motivator for a healthy lifestyle is my beautiful fitness model wife. She has been competing in figure and fitness competitions across the US for 4 years and I watch her devotion and self control and it drives me to live a cleaner life. I have cut out all the crap and dropped 25 pounds. Im at 11% body fat and was just asked to do my first photo shoot with my wife last month. What an honor that was and it is also one of my new sources of motivation. I want to do many more of those.
I also, like some others before me have said, have some health issues in my family. Most recently is my father. He had 3 strokes and is borderline diabetic. I have also watched my mom struggle with dieting for 30 years now and it has been very hard at times and I don’t ever want to have to deal with that myself or my kids have to watch their mom and dad fight the health and dieting fight. I am devoted to being a role model for my children.
Motivation? A trip to the Galapagos in May, the BIG 5 – 0 in July, and my feet. My husband and I like to dance but my feet HURT! My goal is 50 pounds and happy feet (and a healty body) in 2010!
I get up every morning at 4:30 am….I work out and am home by 7:00…just in time for our 4 kids to start waking up and to get my hubby off to work with a great breakfast. If I don’t get up in the morning and get myself taken care of first….it’s just not going to happen any other time of the day. Quite frankly…selfishly…my motivation is to have alone time for me. I’ve learned that without those few hours in the morning by myself (doing nothing but something that I enjoy) I’m worthless to everyone the rest of the day. We homeschool our kids…so I don’t get “alone” time. This is such an energy booster for me. I feel like I can not live without it. So, in short…my motivation is to keep myself sane!!!! And I absolutely love to workout (hard core by the way). As far as the food goes. I’m passionate about teaching my kids how to eat correctly. It’s amazing how at their young ages they know how to read food labels and I catch them doing it all the time. They have even started noticing if they didn’t have enough veggies or fruit on any given day. I’m not crazy with them… They have their sweets (Healthy sweets) but I am totally interested in educating them on food choices and what bad food does to your body and how good food makes you stronger. What better example could I give other than following it myself.
Thanks for asking….this is my passion!!
I am a somewhat elderly person (75) who has slowly been gaining (and losing) weight all my life. Mostly gaining for the past 10 years. I am sick of looking and feeling pudgy, and I know some of my physical ailments will go away when I lose at least 10% of my body weight. Exercise is hard for me, so I mostly blow it off, but no more. I am feeling so motivated to get my body moving, and to lose that 10% ( about 20 lbs) – and then perhaps another 10%. Yes!
Hey, i agree with you about Rocky 4 being one of the best movies around….but are we seriously forgetting everything about Clubber Lang (Mr T)…i think that Rocky 3 is more or less all about motivation….when everyone said he couldnt do it, even his own body…Rocky went on to prove everyone wrong, even himself…I guess the facts from Rocky 4 about training the real way out weighs machines and steroid use, but lets be honest, i think too many people are investing too much time and money in the ‘ab trimmer 2000’ and the ‘glide walker 5000’, and forgetting the one place people called a running machine….the earth, fair enough running in your spacious room with the tv will help you lose weight to a point….but running outside, free to take which ever turning you want, and free to sneak a peak at mother nature itself will motivate you to get up everyday…My motivation….Eye of the Tiger theme song ;)
What motivates me today and the next 38 or so days…
Transformation Domination Live!!! My goal is to loose 10 lbs of fat and maintain most if not all muscle mass by Jan 15 (current weight 130.6 and 24%bf) Can’t wait!!!!!
My motivation is simple. I want to look better, I’m sick of being skinny. I get motivated by seeing progression in myself whether it be visual or physical (how much I can lift). I’m also motivated by my heros such as Geroges St. Pierre who without a doubt has one of the most fit bodies in North America.
I want to look great for spring break which coincides with my 50th birthday!
Kathy
My motivation is high quality longevity. I started training seriously at age 44 because I did not want to have health problems later in life based on the fact that I was too lazy to take care of myself.
At 46 I’m clearly in the best shape of my life and I am always looking to change up my workouts and my diets to keep my body working and guessing what’s going to be the next challenge.
All of my grandkids are my motivation. I am waiting for back surgery and after I have it I want to get fit so that I can run and play with my grandkids. Right now I’m the grandma who always sits on the sidelines because I have trouble even walking. Part of it is my back but my weight is the biggest part. I walk with a cane so I really cannot interact with my grandkids and it bothers me. I’m only 54 but move like I’m over 80. I’m so tired of always being left out of the fun and I badly want to be able to play with my grandkids as well as be a great role model for living a healthy lifestyle. Several of my grandsons are already couch potatoes who would rather play video games than do anything active outside. My 14 year old granddaughter is putting on the pounds because she loves to eat and refuses to do anything that requires any physical effort. She has agreed to start working out with me in January. I have to admit I am hampered by my back problems but I’m trying to get some pool exercising on a regular basis until I get my back surgery. There is a pool in my building which makes it easy to get pool time. If you have any info on good pool exercises I would really love to hear back from you. You are a real inspiration to me, Joel, and between your inspiring words and my grandkids motivating me I’m hoping that 2010 will be my year!
Joel,
My motivation…I am trying to make choices that my 4 children will in turn do as a natural way of life. I want it to be normal to be active, play sports (and I’m not talking video thumb movin’), and eat healthy. If they see me up and working out, eating brown rice instead of white, cucumber and cottage cheese, or a cut up apple with cinnamon as my snack then they will probably never have to think about their weight, struggle to loose those extra pounds and have a healthy self esteem. With being 34 I still need to keep up to my extremely active kids…I don’t want to miss out on their joyful lives because I was too tired to be involved.
I’ve lost 65 lbs through diet alone and now see that working out is key to looking better and having more energy for the entire day. Here’s to working out for week 4. Thanks for the workouts…they really are simply hard “)
Joel, Rocky is fictitious, and whats more a friend inform me that Sylvester Stallone took drugs to get in that shape! I understand what you mean when you write about motivation but he is hardly the right hero to be following if the only way you can achieve it is drug taking. Also, we all don’t have a dead friend to avenge, I for one don’t believe that running in the snow will get me that physique! Just messing with you! Motivation, is when I take my top off on the beach. Yours Sincerely.
My motivation is my neighbor. Just knowing that someone is waiting for me or is picking me up (we take turns) at 6 am three days a week gets me to gym.
Having a workout partner is a great motivator.
My 85 year old aunt, who walks 3 miles a day and goes to the gym every day and “pumps iron” (as she puts it) is my motivation. She is in great health, drives where ever she wants, and volunteers at a musuem 5 days a week (because she is bored if she doesn’t “do” something). She loves people and is enjoying life in her golden years!
I am now close to 70 and am in good health, as well. I want to stay that way! There are still a lot of things I want to do, and I don’t want poor health to stand in my way!
My motivation is that i want to be the best that i can possibly be! Why waste this life and the gift of working body and not keep it at its optimum so that you can appreciate and love it!
What motivates me? Well, there I was, a 66 year old guy, sitting in the pub with grumpy old men, and listening to their B.S. certainly didn’t get my ass in gear! I was going downhill fast, and then, one day, I just got pissed off with it, and so I called off the impromptu wine tasting sessions, polished up my well-equipped but neglected home gym and actually got in there and got on with it. As a result, I feel more optimistic, alive, I’m a great deal fitter, and I’m an easier and kinder man to live with. So, who am I doing it for? My wife? My kids? Friends? Get real! Well, OK, they get the spinoff, and they like me better, but I’m really doing it for myself, because I enjoy being the new me, or maybe it’s the old me back again!
My motivation is my family. Out of seven kids, I’m the only one not morbidly obese…I have 30 more pounds to loose but my 5 sisters and brother are all in really bad shape and grossly over weight. I am going to get down below 200lbs (I am 6’2″) and be in the best shape of my life to serve as an example to them that it is never too late. I want them all around for a long time and that will only happen if they loose the weight and get healthy. It’s a powerful reason for me to get there!
Steve
Rocky IV might be a bit of a rip off from Rocky III, a powerful opponent kills someone close to Rocky and then he is motivated to train to beat the opponent against all odds, but it is my favorite one as well.
My motivation is love. He’s in another state and has only seen me in pictures. When we meet, i want to knock his socks off. lol He motivates me in so many other ways too…to be a better person, to never stop learning, and to love with all my heart. When i had lost all hope, he reminded me to never give up, that it was never too late to be the best me that i can be. And he makes sure i’m doing this for ME and not just for him. So, i’m doing it for US. Thank you, Andrew.
Back in late October, I was getting sick on everything I ate and showing a scary amount of the symptoms of type 2 Diabetes. There’s NO WAY I want to stick a needle in myself everyday and I can’t afford to go to the hospital. Since changing my eating habits, exercising and following your advice, I’ve dropped 13 pounds and don’t get sick after every meal. My symptoms are going away with each passing week and I’ m feeling better and better. Thanks Joel!
At almost 48, I am the fittest that I have been in my whole life. I love seeing muscles in places that I’ve never seen them before and being as physically strong as I am now (the hubby digs it, too!). Today at the gym I watched a woman who is in her late 60’s roll like a ball on the floor during a pilates class. I want that to be me when I’m that age.
I did like Rocky IV and thought it was the best out of all of them! My motivation is to be healthier for my family. Every time I start to give in…I remember what I could look like (kind of like the biggest loser) and keep going even stronger!
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Hey, it’s Joel! So you want to know a little more about me, huh? Well, I’d be happy to oblige :-)
I guess it all started back in 2001 (my freshman year of college) when I was just a “skinny fat” 19-year old kid. At the time, I was spending close to 2 hours a day in the gym (now my workouts last about 30 minutes), and despite my efforts, you’d probably never guess I worked out a day in my life by looking at me...