Motivation...motive; the inner drive that causes one to act!
We are on week # 8 of 10, looking at ways to keep motivation alive. Healthy motivation is the key to reaching your goals in any area of your life. The question we must ask ourselves is, "what causes me to act?" The answer is a simple one...PLEASURE! We do EVERYTHING we do, to avoid pain or seek pleasure! A huge part of keeping motivation alive is to reward your new behavior. We will ALWAYS gravitate towards pleasure. The next tool in your tool box:
8. Reward yourself for new behavior
The problem we face when we try to change is that we link pleasure to the wrong things. One of the keys to permanent change is to use pain and pleasure to change your beliefs system for good. Rewarding new behavior is a must to keep your motivation alive!
It's easy to look back in our lives and see when rewards were used effectively. From the charts our parents made us for doing our chores(you know, the ones with stars on them) to the creative ways our teachers rewarded us for turning in our homework, being quiet in class or any other behavior they were motivating us to live out, rewards have been a part of our lives.
For some reason, as adults we quit rewarding ourselves, or we begin to use unhealthy rewards in our lives like food, alcohol, spending...rewards that promote addiction. (all empty or wounded places in us are addictions waiting to happen)
We make decisions as adults to quit over eating, quit drinking, or stop over spending, but we don't replace those pleasures with anything else. We are fine for a while, putting pleasure aside, but 100% of the time we will automatically swing back to what we feel is pleasure. Rewarding yourself with new pleasure is a MUST!
It's important to reward yourself not only for weight loss goals, but also for new behavior. It's great to reward yourself at a 10 pound, 20 pound...weight loss, but equally important to reward yourself when you attend a party and stay on your nutritional plan! Your subconscious mind will begin to love living the new life style and feel pleasure in a new way. Auto pilot changes when you use rewards!
In looking at the kinds of rewards you might find pleasure in, it's important that you don't see rewards as something you buy. Rewards should be things that bring pleasure to you in many areas of your life.
Linking pain to old behavior and pleasure to new behavior will be life changing for you. Don't miss out on the importance of rewards. They will truly keep motivation alive!
Always encouraging you,
Letha
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