Motivation

This blog was written by DJ Shuttleworth, a weightlifter and coach for Garage Strength Weightlifting. DJ has medaled at the American Open series, as well as posting a top 4 finish at the US Senior National Championships.

Motivation is defined by Google as, “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something”. I would agree with that, but I would also add something of my own to that. Before we get to that, there are a couple kinds of motivation though. Extrinsic motivation, which is based off outside factors such as money, rewards, and gifts. This kind of motivation is controlled and can easily lose value the longer it goes on. The second is Intrinsic motivation, and this motivation is based off internal factors. Intrinsic motivation comes from within and is about self-motivation and self-fulfillment. This is much harder to lose and very powerful. Back to what I was saying earlier, motivation is the general desire or willingness of someone to do something, while sacrificing something else.

For self-motivation, you first need to be passionate about something. If there is no passion, there need to be external factors to motivate someone, typically this is short term. So if there is no external factors, how can I find motivation to last and keep the burn alive. Simple, first step is you are passionate about something, second step… set GOALS. You need to set short-term goals and long-term goals. Basically the long term goals should be the big picture, the end goal in mind. These goals should be anywhere from 3-5 year goals. The short-term goals should be the baby steps the help you achieve your ultimate long-term goals. These goals should be anywhere from 6 months to 1 year. Goals will always be changing and based off what happens in your life, especially the short-term goals.

As you achieve your goals or your timeline expires, you need to set new goals immediately. The worst thing you could do is wait to set goals because that leaves a window of time where you don’t have goals and that could lead to the loss of motivation for anyone. This also leads to losing the site of the end goal, which is the main motivation.

   Motivation is the general desire or willingness of someone to do something, while sacrificing something else. The one thing we didn’t talk about was the sacrifices you make to achieve a certain goal that stems from your motivation. Whether it’s lifting, working, just life in general, to achieve one goal you must make sacrifices in your life to be successful. You want to buy a house? You need to live on a budget and be very strict and not break it. You want to be good at lifting? You need to commit 1-2 hours everyday to become the champion you dreamed of. You want to be shredded? You have to eat healthy and exercise on the regular, no cheat days. Motivation can change your life, it is up to you to set goals to motivate yourself to keep grinding towards the end goal.