Loughborough (UK): If your resolve to exercise more this year is waning, you’re not alone. It is indicated that about 80 percent of people will break their New Year’s resolutions by February. But the reason for your lack of motivation could be that you started it off with the wrong objectives and goals. Research shows us that choosing the right kind of goals is key to keeping us motivated over the long term.
reduce effort
Many of us believe that we need to sweat more to lead a healthy life. So in early January we take the burden off our efforts to help us reach our goals. Unfortunately our brain prompts us to avoid physical effort.
This is why the excessive effort we put into exercising will work against us in the long run, leaving us feeling less motivated to exercise by the end of January. Our brain is constantly monitoring our body for any change in resting state which means our health may be at risk.
So to reduce the effort, we need to do such exercises which can help us in a better way to stick to our resolutions in the long run. For example, if you are afraid of even 15 minutes of jogging, then do five minutes instead. Or if you enjoy doing Zumba instead of running, do it.
When it comes to starting a new exercise in the new year, it takes a lot of psychological effort to make time for exercise in your routine and wake up an hour earlier. Research also shows that when we think that achieving our goals requires less effort we are more likely to achieve them.
Choose short term goals
The other basic motivational mistake many of us made in January was setting goals too long into the future. Many people start exercising with the aim of losing a few pounds so that their favorite jeans can fit again. But when the result is too far in the future, our brain is unable to connect this motivation with exercise, so our interest in exercising decreases.
Our mind will give positive results by choosing the target which will give results in the near future. In short, set goals that you can achieve immediately and its long-term benefits will start coming.
Instead of ‘is’, focus on ‘being’ in the future
The final motivator is to change the goal you have. The so-called ‘have’ goal proves to be less beneficial to our motivational brain. Our brain considers such a goal to be less important because it does not help us accomplish the essential goals that help us move forward. (agency)