Thursday, October 7, 2010

Inspiration vs. Motivation...

This is on the sleeve of my daughters XC team shirt. As they ran hills during practice, my daughter kiddingly picked tall weeds and gave it to the kids as they were making their way to the top. Hey, anything to motivate right? :)
I do have to tell you how funny the first few meets were as we were cheering the kids on saying " You can do it, you've got the weed!" I quickly realized how bad this sounded! At least the kids thought it was funny...

I read this today and I want to share it. It has made me think about the WHY behind my goals...


"When you’re motivated to reach a goal, it usually means there’s something in your life you want to change.  You’re focused on what you don’t want, rather than on what you do want. For example, you’re motivated to lose weight because you’re inspired to be thinner. Motivation signifies hard work, determination and persevering through the tough times. That’s important, but also draining. When we’re inspired, we’re uplifted and energized by what we want.  Inspiration means “to breathe life into.” So when we’re inspired to change something in our life, our inspiration breathes life into our actions.  It becomes easy and effortless, even fun! Motivation alone is drudgery. Motivation with inspiration is joyous."


The article suggests writing this sentence "I want to release weight because..." this little sentence written over and over will hopefully inspire us to work towards what we WANT and remind ourselves WHY we really want it.


How do you stay inspired???

5 comments:

  1. Jill, I love this! Just the reminder I needed. I think that is the view we should have on all of our goals. The process of accomplishing them would be a lot more enjoyable. I experienced this exact thing when I tried and tried to loose weight for months, but I didn't loose a pound until I started training for my half marathon. I think it really did make a difference changing my goal from losing weight, to getting ready to run 13 miles. All of a sudden it made it worthwhile to eat healthy, to get to bed on time, and to hydrate properly. And having a set schedule for my workouts made it fun to feel like..."I have to do this or I won't be prepared on race day." Thanks for sharing.

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  2. I have a hard time staying motivated to go to the gym. I can tell I need to rethink my whole approach to exercise. Thanks Jill, I always love your incite and comments.

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  3. That was a really great post, as a lot of them on here are by so many wonderful women. It's why we all keep coming back for more!

    It's hard to put into words what the difference is between the times when I've tried to lose weight, and the success I'm having now, and I think you are right. I'm very focused on what I can achieve EVERY DAY, not just on some long-distance goal. Every day I want to eat within my calorie range. Every day, I want the great feelings I experience after a good workout. I want the even, clean, energized feeling I have when I eat healthy and don't eat until I'm stuffed. It used to be that I measured my current happiness/contentedness with food by how full I felt. Now I measure that by how healthy and focused my body and mind can be with the food I eat. I love pushing myself to achieve workout goals that feel like admirable athletic goals, at least for my own personal history. They'd be pathetic for real professional athletes, but I know that for me, right now, I'm in the best shape of my life. The weight loss is just a side benefit at this point, but it's not what inspires me.

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  4. I am reminded all the time of why I need to get and stay healthy. The number one reason is, my family. I want to be able to do physical activities with my kids. I want to be able to do the outdoor activities that brought my husband and I together. I don't want to miss out on life. I don't want to sit on the sidelines, wishing I were participating. Great post, Jill!

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  5. Oh, this is just great.

    I was contemplating this very difference--between motivation and inspiration--at the pool the other day. The key word for me in your post is "JOY." When I do what I know is right with great joy, I know I'm being inspired (and it's coming from the Spirit!) and not merely motivated (which merely comes from me and my knowledge of what is right).

    Right on Jill!

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