So how does Jacquie, who is 46, and that person you always see at the gym, no matter how infrequently you attend, how does she always seem to be there\u2026how does she keep going if we know motivation fails people and shouldn\u2019t be relied upon?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, I believe that motivation fails you if you don\u2019t add inspiration to what you do when working on yourself physically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer said this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cInspiration is a guest that does not willingly visit the lazy.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> We will cover:<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let\u2019s get into it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Difference Between Motivation and Inspiration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The wonderful Humanitarian Leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar describes it thus:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It has also been described like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMotivation is a push factor,\u201d he explained. \u201cIt\u2019s an outside force that is compelling you to take action, even if you don\u2019t necessarily want to. Inspiration, on the other hand, is more of a pull or driving force. It\u2019s something that comes from within that gets us to proactively give our best effort. When someone is inspired, they\u2019re with you for the long haul.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2014 Sam Taggart<\/em> In Fitness the topic of Motivation is a very prevalent one. It’s the go-to word that people use when it comes to describing the state of their fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You fall into two camps:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is completely linear. The majority of people see that if they fall into Camp 1 (Motivated) they are then taking action and doing the things they need to do to get to their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are in Camp 2 there is no point at all. And that’s that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The much-misunderstood truth is that there is a Third Camp:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Motivated and Un-Motivated<\/strong> Now we know that the best way to find your Motivation is the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You follow this Loop. Start with Action, then you get Results and then you find your Motivation. However\u2026if you know Motivation will fail you\u2026how do you bolster that part of the loop? How do you make sure that when you hit Motivation you then are able to restart the Loop with Action again?<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Sam Taggart says in the quote above:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMotivation is a Push Factor\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInspiration is more of a Pull Factor\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now if you have followed me for a long time you will be very aware that I am a proponent of Balance in your Fitness journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am sure you have seen someone with a Kyphotic Posture in their life? A very over-pronounced upper spine tilting someone’s head forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Different postures of the spine<\/em> My point is it comes from an imbalance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To correct this in the Gym we would have to strengthen all of the back muscles using many Pulling Motions and stretch out the shortened chest muscles. We would have to work on counterbalancing the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if Motivation is a Push\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026and if you all do is Push you create an imbalance in yourself. Just like we would create balance in your workouts in the Gym. You need to turn your Motivation Loop into a Success Loop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Success Loop \u2014 Adam Berry<\/em> You need to find your Pull and your Push in order to be able to stay in perpetual motion towards your Goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With my clients in The Fitness, Collective success is always attributed to those who work on their inspiration. Motivation and Inspiration are very close bedfellows and one thing they do have in common is they must both be worked upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Neither of them will just appear or turn up, they will require you to work on them in order to allow them to have the correct effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Is Inspiration in Fitness?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Personally, I think I came a little late into the game when it came to Instagram Fitness Inspiration And I am eternally grateful because I had I have joined the industry maybe 4 years previous I might have fallen foul to the bandwagon, but instead I have found clarity and my message which is miles away from the selfie hell that #fitspo truly was and probably still is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I quick search on the good old Instagram and 70.7million hits of Fitness Inspiration show up and they look like a pile of sick:<\/p>\n\n\n\n #fitspo on Instagram<\/em> This is Fitness Self Indulgence. This is a bunch of very fit people trying to make a bunch of unfit people feel very very shit about themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not saying they are doing it intentionally, but that is the effect and the result of this horrible practice and anyone who utters the word \u201cFitspo\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 70.7million photos of unachievable physiques, highly edited photos, and extremely lucky genetics have caused a failure to you. It has caused many people to think that Inspiration is the perfect body, unachievable results and beauty that can only truly be achieved by Adobe Photoshop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking through all of those photos\u2026I personally do not find a single one of them inspirational. They just make me feel rubbish about myself\u2026and I wonder if you feel the same? Inspiration for Fitness comes from within, not an external source. It comes from your own desires, beliefs and wants from yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inspiration in Fitness is Learning. It\u2019s the studying. It\u2019s the developing your \u201cfitness brain\u201d and figuring out how it interacts with your life. It’s learning how you manage under heavyweights, it’s feeling your Glutes fire, it’s walking out of the Gym feeling strong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s finding out about how much you are struggling with it and how much the professionals struggle with it. It\u2019s the understanding of your humanity in the field of Fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I know that sounds like a lot\u2026I\u2019m not saying just because you are trying to become fit you need to become a PT\u2026believe me you really do not need to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I am saying is you need to be a little more immersive in the subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 Ways To Find Your Fitness Inspiration<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At Drama School, we had to keep inspired, and just like Motivation, I found the harder I worked the more inspired I became.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we would get a new script\u2026it was like learning a new language. A script doesn\u2019t come alive until you have read it at least 8 or 9 times\u2026and you need to do that before\u2026well before Day 1 of Rehearsals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason it reveals itself slowly to you is because of all the other research you do around it. You find out the History of the time the Play was set, you find out the stories of the people who lived during those times, you listen to Music and look at Art from the period to try and help make the world believable to you\u2026make the world seem real to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many people dislike Shakespeare because they quite simply \u201cdon\u2019t understand it\u201d. When I first pick up a play of his\u2026I don\u2019t either. But the more I work on it, and the more I read it, and view it from different angles\u2026the more it reveals to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference is that I give Shakespeare an 8th and 9th chance. Most other people don\u2019t give it a second chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Fitness is the exact same. You have to delve deeper sometimes, you have to ask insightful questions and you have to allow it to reveal its work to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you just go to it with a standoffish attitude, then you can expect standoffish results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So here are six strategies to help you find your Fitness Inspiration\u2026and spoiler alert\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026None of them are \u201cCheck Instagram\u201d<\/strong> When you set your goals, I don\u2019t want you to think too much on topics like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think they are quite materialistic goals, but I do know they will let you down eventually and will not fulfill you fully if at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What you should look more towards is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n With the second set of goals, you are looking more \u201cIntrinsically\u201d than \u201cExtrinsically\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Edward Deci in his book Why We Do What We Do says this in relation to Intrinsic Goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c\u2026strong aspirations for any of the intrinsic goals \u2014 meaningful relationships, personal growth, and community contributions \u2014 were positively associated with well-being. People who strongly desired to contribute to their community, for example, had more vitality and higher self-esteem. When people organize their behavior in terms of intrinsic strivings (relative to extrinsic strivings) they seem more content \u2014 they feel better about who they are and display more evidence of psychological health.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n And this in relation to Extrisnisc Goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe researchers found that if any of the three extrinsic aspirations \u2014 for money, fame, or beauty \u2014 was very high for an individual relative to the three intrinsic aspirations, the individual was also more likely to display poorer mental health. For example, having an unusually strong aspiration for material success was associated with narcissism, anxiety, depression, and poorer social functioning as rated by a trained clinical psychologist\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here we can see that you can literally inspire yourself\u2026and as a by-product it will make you happier as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think how many times in the past you have used an Extrinsic Goal like \u201cget into that pair of jeans\u201d and you achieved it. Are you now\u2026months or years later still able to get into that pair of jeans? If you wanted to get into those Jeans to feel a lot sexier, and it makes you feel more alive and healthy when you do\u2026.chances are you are wearing them right now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connecting to your intrinsic values will educate you on yourself, it will help you look at what is driving you forward and what and who you really value in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. FOLLOW INSPIRATIONAL PEOPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t follow them on Instagram\u2026i mean you can\u2026but can you actually follow them on more meaningful platforms too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do they have a Podcast? Do they have a book? Do they have a blog? Do they have a website? Do they have a YouTube Channel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of these longer-form contents will inspire you a lot more than a quick flick and tap on the old IG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A list of humanoids I find Inspiritational in terms of Fitness and the content I find of their\u2019s most inspirational is the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n I may have found some of these initially on Social Media, but without a doubt, their longer-form content is what has inspired me the most and actually that is what I will go back to most when I need that inspirational lift. Not their latest post on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of them are uber famous, some of them aren\u2019t, and that is the beauty of the list. I gravitate towards people who speak my language. Your list could be extremely different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is also just my inspiration in terms of my Fitness and part of that is running my business. Your list could have musicians on there, playwrights, artists\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that brings me to my next point\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. ENGAGE IN ART<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m sorry. Coronation Street just doesn\u2019t count. Eastenders is not Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the same way, I think Long-Form content form inspirational people can help you more than their Social Media feeds can, I too think that Art can help you stay connected to your Intrinsic Goals. For me, it\u2019s the Theatre. For you, it could be Robbie Williams\u2019 \u201cSwing When You\u2019re Winning\u201d or Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Art has a wonderful way of making us understand the human condition. When someone can pluck a phrase or a lyric and sum up exactly how you are feeling at that moment, and finds just about the right words, and puts it in a way that speaks to you like you never knew something could\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n That lights you up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And to be inspired\u2026being lit up is very important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I am feeling my lowest I would jump on a train and head to London to do two things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yup. I\u2019m a rock star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These were two strategies that have always helped me feel alive. They have made me understand my condition as Adam, they have guided me and connected me with who I believe I truly am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lyric in These Days that says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDon\u2019t remind me of my failures, I have not forgotten them\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n It drives me forward. It teaches me compassion and empathy. It allows me to reconnect to some of the most inspirational times in my life\u2026and I just love it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Find your song that does that. Watch Movies that aren\u2019t about Superheros beating each other up but that are about real humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Art can and will keep you inspired. Inspiration isn\u2019t linear. If you can get inspired about life that will bleed into your Fitness. It will help you reconnect with your higher purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was always taught: \u201cYou must fall in love each day\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Do that\u2026because it will reconnect you with your Intrinsic Goals and educate you on your own humanity \u2014 which is something none of us do enough of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. BECOME PART OF YOUR FITNESS COMMUNITY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Being part of a community can improve Mental Health. One very significant reason for that is that you begin to feel connected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connections in this day and age are getting more and more lost in the world of WhatsApp and Email. We don\u2019t talk as much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when you have a community you communicate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Communication is one of my big must do\u2019s for a client. I won\u2019t work with someone if they aren\u2019t willing to communicate with me. They must also communicate with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently I overhauled my Private Facebook Group and I was really surprised that when I messaged people that I would have to revoke their access unless they joined The Fitness Collective for just \u00a320\/month how many of them said thank you to me for allowing them to be in the group for the period of time they were.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They said that although they hadn\u2019t commented much they still got great value from it. The words Community, Communication have the same Latin Origin: \u201cCommunis\u201d and this means: to share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ever heard the phrase: \u201cSharing is Caring\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you find a Fitness Community, you will find a place where you can communicate, where you can share and where you can care for yourself and for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gym floor is this place for many people. Online Fitness Communities are that for others. When you see stories from people, whether you personally know them or not, but when you see their stories, and you spend time with them it\u2019s amazing what kind of an effect they can have on you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can learn a lot from other people and especially if those people are just like you. They will share your struggles, your beliefs and your energy\u2026and it will keep you inspired when you see them both succeed and learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. LONG BOUTS OF LISS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a fancy way of saying \u201cgo for a walk\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LISS means Low-Intensity Steady State Cardiovascular work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn\u2019t just mean Walking though. It can be a light jog\u2026but stay with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also do all kinds of things like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Canoeing, Stand Up Paddle Boarding, Mountain Biking, Tandem Biking, Mountain Climbing, Hill Walking, Beach Surfing, Rock Climbing, Rafting, Kayaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The list can go on, and I appreciate that some of them aren\u2019t that accessible to do regularly. Nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And nature can be so moving it hurts and it can be so much fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nature also teaches us insignificance which is a terribly humbling thing to go through. Have you ever been stood in a Mountain Range and felt like a speck of dust?<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we are humbled by nature it gives us perspective on our lives, and perspective is something that you very much require in Fitness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this article I want to address the following so that you can go away from here lit up and ready to keep going for the amount of time you need to keep going for to be a success at what it is you want to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/ARzi9fkRFRnFIn-_ZACzmg-1200x416.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
I find both quotes interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Which is what every single human being in the world is. No one ever has perpetual motivation and no one ever has perpetual un-motivation (I\u2019m sure that’s a word\u2026leave me alone!).<\/em>
The human condition is a blend\u2026like with everything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/WGh-WjwVypCXe_yvU3lU8Q-1200x675.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Or a simpler way I like to put it is: Do, Track, Repeat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Kyphosis occurs, presuming there are no other health issues at play, the Kyphosis will occur if someone has spent too much of their life \u201chunched over\u201d. It could be someone has worked on a laptop for 20+ years, it could be they have hunched over a Games Console for too long, or they just stand that way as they lack strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need to create a Pull in your life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And that Pull is your Inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You must do both: Repeat AND Learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Or should I say #fitspo<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/lxHSGslxVqPJmMzpOkot2Q.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/KLQ7qYHwDNs1r_2-tvRZ7w.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/7sDrfevUgdKLW_GWgEH-dQ-1.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Please read this next bit really carefully: THIS IS NOT FITNESS INSPIRATION<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is this: Fitness Inspiration doesn\u2019t exist on Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/VlliDtBxfY3OszfjoZg8rA.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/T04HWU-pveR6OwJ9S0zo1g.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
They will all help you move towards the Learn aspect of the Success Loop. You don\u2019t have to do all of them, but I do recommend you do as many as you can take on without feeling stressed out about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
If they were your sole aspiration\u2026I would give a fair bet that you have gone through cycles of yes and no with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/jKGo9Jk0eetluJMzwyyATA.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Find the things that light a fire up inside you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
I was astonished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But they do all have one thing in common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/the.coach\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/416pDDUPkm2B4AC0RXQ1GA.jpeg\")
<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"