Why we shouldn't rely on motivation to succeed - staying accountable 💪

It seems like at the start of January, motivation to lose fat or build muscle is high. Everyone's had a few days of over-indulging over Christmas and New Years and now they’re ready to get back on the horse. So they join back at the gym, meal prep and count calories. 

But it’s not long till that initial motivation wears off (as it does for everyone). Getting up out of bed early and doing a workout, getting your steps in and sticking to your macros doesn’t seem like the most desirable thing to do or the most exciting thing anymore, so this is where we give up right? Because we no longer have motivation. 

In reality, this is where habits should kick in. Our daily habits are a true reflection of who we are, every action we do is another vote for the type of person we wish to become every-single-day. At the beginning of starting a new habit, you’ll have to remind yourself to do these things and in no time it’ll become a habit and it’ll be your lifestyle! Remember, today’s actions become tomorrow’s results. So here’s my tips for building habits and kicking motivation to the side:

• Who do you want to become? It’s fair to say our daily habits are a reflection of who we are right? If your current habits aren’t a reflection of your true self or who you want to become, they need to. Would a healthy person only workout once or twice a week? Would a healthy person walk up these stairs or take the lift? Make daily choices that lead you to the person you want to become. 
• Forget about setting goals, focus on your daily system: Setting goals at the start of the year can feel overwhelming. For example lose 5kg, drink 2L of water, 100kg deadlift. It feels too much. Instead, focus on your daily system, start simple and build on top of that. Start by training three times a week, drinking 1L of water and lifting weights in all of those sessions, making sure you’re lifting heavier each week. Then you will achieve those overarching goals. 
• Habit scorecard: when we have bad habits that detract from our success, it can be really hard to recognise them and start new ones. This is where a habit scorecard can be really helpful. You can buy habit journals or you can follow our habit scorecard and fill it in! Your daily habit scorecard could look like:
• 1 Training session 
• 1L of water
• Tracked calories
• Walked 10k steps
• Journal/meditate 

Track the days you achieved your daily goal, and the days you missed it. At the end of each week you’ll have a clear view of how you’re averaging and what processes need some more thought!

• Make the habit desirable: When starting a new habit, we want to make it as attractive and easy as possible! For example, working out. You could have your clothes and gym bag ready to go the night before so that when you wake up, you just have to get dressed and go! For nutrition you could meal prep, making eating healthy and picking the right foods, easy. 

We must act in accordance with the person we wish to become, not the person we currently are - that’s how we achieve any goal, and continue to progress after that.

If you’re unsure how and where to start, head to the Bloom Challenge tab in the menu and join my 8 Week Bloom Challenge where I’ll help you build habits for long term success no matter what your goal is!

Can’t wait to Bloom with you! 

Soph xx