What Motivates Me (Personally)

Here's the blog that covers the topic that some folks have been asking about. Honestly, this is a topic that I could probably write a novel on. But to spare your eyeballs from sizzling out of their sockets and you going nuts, I'll keep it relatively short. In an effort to do just that, I'll break down "what motivates me" into two different categories: what motivates me personally and what motivates me professionally. For the sake of your valuable time, I'm only going to talk about the former.

Personally, I'm motivated by three things: One, I want to feel good. Two, I want to be the absolute best that I can be at what I do in my spare time. And three, I want to look good. Feeling good should be the number one reason why anyone exercises and/or eats well. However, often times it sinks towards the bottom of the list for a lot of folks because they are more focused on number three on my list. Too many people get caught up in exercising and eating well so they can look good come beach time, but I guarantee you that that is a recipe for short-term healthy living. It's all about getting those happy brain chemicals like epinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine partying like mad inside your head, leaving you with a feel-good feeling and ready to bring on the world! There have been many, many times where I have worked out a client or a member of the YMCA, and, regardless of how they were feeling prior to starting their session, they admitted feeling better AFTER they were done working out than they did before.


Polar Bear 5k-2.11.12
First in my age group with some sweet prizes


Number two may come as no surprise to some of you who know me. I'm an avid runner with a couple of triathlons under my belt. In order to be any good at these I need to exercise, right? Duh! While I will probably never finish number one overall in any road races (those early-20's whippersnappers sure are quick!), I thoroughly enjoy being better than anyone else in my age group and winning medals, prizes, and bragging rights. However, my new-found love is triathlons. When I won my age group at the Great Adventure Challenge last August, I proved to myself and to others that hard work pays off, always. When I went out to dinner with a couple of friends the night of the triathlon, one of my friends looked at me and asked, "What were your expectations going in to this?" I replied to her by saying exactly this: "I expected to win." She was a little surprised by that and said, "What? I've never known anyone to compete in something like this expecting to win." I said, "When you work and train as hard as I did for this, you expect to win." This can be applied across the board in the world of fitness. If you work hard and if you eat right, you will succeed with a long, healthy, happy lifetime.

And of course looking good is the cherry on top. It's the byproduct of being healthy and happy. Everyone likes to look good or wants to look good, but it will only happen if you can master the want-to-feel-good part first. And quite frankly, I don't want to be a statistic. Get this-- according to the National Academy of Sports Medicine, it is estimated that by 2030, 86.3% of adults (nearly 9 in 10) in the U.S. will be overweight and 51.1% will be obese. No thanks. I want to be the 1 in 10 and help as many people as I can also be the 1 in 10, but I'll save that rant for my "what motivates me professionally" post...