I set up the business six years ago to show people what you can achieve, even with a serious health condition.
I had been diagnosed at the age of thirty (nearly 18 years ago) with a rare and complex condition, but had made it my mission to show that I could achieve what I wanted to achieve and it wasn’t going to set any limitations on me. I proved what you can achieve (by training and studying hard ) to change my career and develop my fitness and wellbeing business to help other people realise their potential both physically and mentally.
Last year, unfortunately I was diagnosed with yet another rare disease in the esophagus this time and many of my class goers and clients had to bear with me, with a voice like Marg Simpson, an inability to swallow or eat properly and a rather unpleasant treatment plan! BUT, I still managed to deliver all of my classes and (mostly… Ha! Ha! ) keep a smile on my face!
I put a lot of it down to me being ever motivated. When I was younger I was always motivated by people telling me things I couldn’t do, that would make me want to prove I could do it and give me the motivation I needed!
It does help to have a positive and strong mental attitude , but this isn’t a gift at birth, it is something you can develop - you have to find the right goal for you. I made a promise to myself years ago in the hospital that I would not end up like the people around me - and I’ve stuck to it ever since, the goal I set myself and the motivation for me. Whenever I didn’t feel like studying or exercising, or worried about giving up my well established ‘employed’ career, I would remind myself of that statement and my mission to get people motivated and fit too!
So what motivates you? Do you start with good intention but quickly fall off the wagon or become demotivated and lose that goal?
The key to motivation and goals is that you’ve REALLY got to WANT them. If you really want them, then NOTHING is going to stand in your way. It will give you all the drive and determination you need to keep going until you’ve smashed it. There will always be set-backs along the way or the odd disappointment, but you’ll dust yourself off and get back on that horse as quick as to chase that goal, because it feels right, because it spurs you on, because you know it’s going to feel good when you get there.
That’s another key thing about goal setting and motivation. Keep thinking what you are going to feel like when you get there, when you’ve reached that goal - feel it as if you are already there. As counsellors, we are often getting our clients to look at changing thoughts . Thoughts create actions. So if you have a positive thought you will create what we call a positive inspired action. If we rehearse in our mind how it will be and how we will feel when we've reached our goal, those positive thoughts will spur us on to positive inspired actions.
Well, unfortunately, I’m facing another blip at the moment and my clients will have to put up with Marg Simpson again for a while as I start another course of treatment and it’s rather unpleasant side effects. But, I know that the motivation I get from helping people get fit on the inside and out will give me the motivation I need to keep going and keep delivering, because even if my physical body is struggling a bit at present the mind and motivation will keep me going while it catches up!
So next time you fall off the wagon - take a moment… do you REALLY want it? How will it make you feel when you get there? … rehearse that feeling…. If it still feels right , then you still want it… so get back on that horse and chase after it! #mondaymotivation ;)
