What (or who) motivates you?

I hate to say it, but if you don't have something or someone to motivate you during your training, you're NEVER going to reach your goals...NEVER!   What is "motivation"?  According to Webster, motivation is:

mo·ti·va·tion/ˌmōtəˈvāSHən/

Noun:

The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way. The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

According to the definition, there's got to be a reason...and/or a willingness to do something.  Reasons can be simple..such as:  "Because I want to".  However, wanting to do something is as futile as wishing or praying.  At least I think it is.  "Wanting" to do something is NOT going to get you through those tough Winter interval workouts.  "Wanting" is NOT going to get your a$$ out of bed on those cold dark Winter mornings.   You need to be motivated by more than just "Wanting".  Hell, I want to be a millionaire but "wanting" alone is NOT going to get me there.  Now, if somebody told me, "You'll NEVER be a millionaire"...now there's motivation.  It's a reason..a reason to prove someone wrong.

I'll never forget what my mother-in-law told me when I was 25.  She said, you wait until you get to be 50 (like your father-in-law).  You'll be just as overweight and out of shape as he is.  She said, he was just as active as you are now at age 25.  I told her right then and there...you're wrong.  In fact, I think she was bold enough (and cocky enough at the time) to bet me $100.  I said, "you're on".  She had no clue that was the easiest $100 I'll ever make.  On my 50th birthday, I was not only at my High School weight (165 lbs), I was probably in the best Cardiovascular fitness/shape in my life.  She was wrong...dead wrong!  I won the bet...like I knew I would.  I never asked her for the money..she would probably say she had forgotten about it..so I never brought it up.  Was the money the "motivator"?  Hell No!  The motivator was proving her wrong..since she is so opinionated and thinks she knows everything.  Besides, I wanted to prove to myself that I could truly get in the best shape of my life at age 50..and I did!  BTW, I busted my a$$ to achieve that goal.  It was a lot of hard work..especially since I weighed 222 lbs. in my mid-forties.

Whatever the reason, you need a good one to motivate you to reach your goals.  The loftier the goal, the better the reason.  To be honest, I don't have any motivation for the 2012 season.  I don't!  Sure, I have goals: I want to be faster/stronger/etc. just like everyone else.  But as of this minute, I don't have any motivation.  But, for now, what I do have is "motivators"...friends!  And, that can be one of the BEST motivators of all.  There is nothing like a friend to encourage you.  A friend to help you get through a workout.  A friend to call you up and invite you out on a ride.  A friend to call you after work to get a workout in the gym..after you were set on going back to the hotel room and falling asleep.  To those people..Jason, Jim, Todd, Tim, et. al...I say THANK YOU.  In the next couple weeks, I will come up with a Motivator for 2012.

If you hire a Coach..the Coach will be your motivator.  If he/she's not, then you should get another Coach.  Because I firmly believe that is the job of a "good" Coach..to motivate you and help you get through those tough workouts.  A Coach that can tell you, "you can do it", when you didn't think it's possible.  A Coach that knows how hard the workouts are..because he's done them.

So, before you start training long/hard this Winter..decide what or who is going to motivate you to achieve your 2012 goals.  If you're NOT motivated..you will NOT reach/achieve your goals.  And, it doesn't matter whether you're an amateur or a professional.  We are all human..and we need motivation to achieve our goals...especially lofty ones.  If you say you don't need motivation (that it comes from within)..then perhaps your goals were never high/lofty enough.

Power ON!  Coach Rob