digging deep to motivate ourselves

It can be hard to maintain positivity while in quarantine. I understand that at this moment, we feel stuck, trapped, and bored. This can all lead to a lack of motivation and even depression. It is easy to limit challenging ourselves when we no longer know the exact outcome of the future.

However, we all know that we grow the most during difficult times in our lives. These times are when we can prove to ourselves we can push through uncertainty and hardship. Motivation during hardship makes us stronger, bolder, and more confident to conquer any future challenge in life. 


Speaking of motivation, I know that it is incredibly hard to get up and exercise right now. I get it. I feel the same way at times. Think of it this way, the more we motivate ourselves to do hard things during hard times, the more we will do these tasks when we aren’t dealing with the hardship of COVID-19. Think of this time as training time. You have the opportunity to train yourself both mentally and physically so that when life is back to normal, you will be unstoppable. 


Just like most individuals, I know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to motivating myself. 


I stay motivated to exercise by knowing myself well enough to know that executing my workouts first thing in the morning is the ONLY way I can be consistent and not create excuses. I also make sure that my work schedule allows some leeway to exercise for myself. 


Exercising in the morning also makes me more self-aware during the day of how hard I worked to stay fit. This makes me think twice before eating poorly throughout the day and counteracting all I did when I woke up early and kicked my own butt. 


Varying my workouts every day also helps my motivation immensely. I more or less vary what I do six days out of the seven in a week. I make sure to get my rest on Sundays. Variation prevents boredom, and it also keeps my body guessing, which also leads to my body working harder. Remember, rest is also extremely important to prevent burnout.  


My favorite day is my walking day with my best friend Jen. These walks have made Saturday mornings something I look forward to all week. Having someone get active with you helps with motivation. Not to mention having a workout buddy helps you work harder! We have worked our way up to walking 6 miles every week. I could not walk that far if I didn’t do it with Jen. If you are dreading workouts during quarantine, make a habit to be healthy with someone you love! 


Other ways to motivate yourself to exercise: 

•  Give yourself a reward after every workout (that is not food or drink).  Example: put a sticker on your calendar every day you worked out. 
•  Find something that you can do consistently. Example: if you like a specific area in your neighborhood, make it a point to walk/jog to it every day. 
•  Have an accountability buddy. Have someone who can motivate you (not pressure you) to get your exercise in every day! Having that positive energy in your life helps you work harder and more consistently
• Get enough sleep. If you don’t get the right amount of sleep, you are less likely to complete your goals during the day. 
•  Follow people who inspire you. If there is someone you admire, see how they are getting in their goals and copy them! 
• Try to stay persistent with your exercise! Studies show that regular activity increases our overall happiness. People who spend ten minutes to two hours of being active every day are twenty percent more likely to be happier than people who don't. 

I am initiating a challenge to help keep us all motivated while in quarantine. I have been seeing “the push-up challenge” all over social media. So I’d thought I’d join in on the fun and start my own. I am initiating a community-wide, 30-day, push-up challenge! 


Everyone who knows me knows that I love push-ups. They work on muscle building and endurance! Don’t worry—we will start small and add to it each day until we reach 60 push-ups. We’ve got this! 


Instructions: 
Day one will start with 5 push-ups. Each day we will add 2 push-ups until we reach day 30. The last day we will reach up to 60 push-ups. I will be participating in this challenge on my social media. Follow along with me and film yourself doing the push-up challenge. Don’t forget to tag me. @shannonstrongfitness on Instagram and ShannonStrong on Facebook. Let’s get motivated together!