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Three keys to motivating you to stay healthy and fit

For years, the fitness industry, the government, and others have told the public that they need to start exercising and eating healthy. They discussed the consequences of what would happen if they did not. What is the result of all this? We get fatter. We have more fitness facilities, weight loss programs, diet foods, diets, fitness equipment, and more than ever. We get fatter.

The Baby Boomer generation was supposed to be the one to get and stay fit and healthy. They were going to stay young. They got fat. As a fellow Boomer, it’s crazy that my generation (the one that was going to make a difference in society and focus on youth) is now unhealthy, fat, and old.

The younger generation is even worse, because they soon became unhealthy. Many young people are simply sitting at home and watching television, playing computer games, or using their smart devices. They are not motivated like I and many others during our youth. We wanted to play outside and we had to be dragged by our mothers.

The motivation to be healthy and fit has simply faded in today’s society; except for a few who still want it. I don’t blame the unmotivated. They may not have a reason why. And this mindset started years before many of them were born. It was after World War II and in the 1950s that the focus turned to living a life of leisure. We would have moving sidewalks so we don’t have to strain to move. We would have faster food options, including TV dinner (and then fast foods). It was an easy life. From the late 1960s until today, our food supply changed as did the way we ate. In the 1970s, farmers received subsidies to grow corn products and thus cheaper sugars (high fructose corn syrup) were obtained. Life changed and another generation helped drive this change. Today we cook less at home and eat more out. We move less and sit more. It is time for a change.

We can regain control of our own lives and those of our children. It’s about motivation. And that motivation starts with the “reason why.” Without a “reason why,” we simply won’t take the necessary steps to move toward health and fitness. All action begins with how we think and believe.

Here are three keys to help you “jumpstart” your motivation to be fit and healthy:

  1. Identify your personal “reason” why you want to be healthy and fit. It has to be strong enough emotionally. It can be for your children. In fact, our children are more influenced by our actions than by what we tell them. Another “reason why” could be related to health, including prevention of heart disease, diabetes, or any other lifestyle-related illness.
  2. Create a vision board of what being fit and healthy means to you. Steven Covey talked about starting any goal with “the end in mind” in his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. A vision board allows you to have a visual representation of the result of being healthy and fit. Create more clarity and reality for yourself.
  3. Whenever you have any ideas about health and fitness, take immediate action. When you do that, it will help you create a neuro connection and embed that thought in your subconscious. Each time you do this, the connection strengthens and leads you to create a habit.

Being fit and healthy is your right. It’s also about taking personal responsibility. Take the first action of discovering your “reason why” and move on to the rest. JUST DO IT!

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