The scary outdoors of winter can kill motivation
It’s funny isn’t it?
In spite of all the admiration you receive for your dedication, discipline and commitment to training and racing in the summer, and despite your pride for living an active lifestyle, it can still be challenging to maintain day-to-day motivation in the winter.
It can also be confusing when you don’t feel like your normal self – on the inside you feel like you lack drive or you can’t find your mojo to get up and go.
So here are 12 excuse busters to nudge you, push you or inspire you to stay moving and stay motivated over the next few months.
Excuse: “It’s too hard to get out of bed on cold, dark mornings.”
It’s true that temperature and light have direct impact on our body rhythms in the winter extremes. But there are simple things you an do so you don’t succumb to the situation.
Heat it up. Adjust the thermostat timer to warm your home or bedroom before the alarm goes off. If the temperature outside the duvet is as enjoyable as inside, poof! the excuse is gone. Even better, put your workout clothes on the heater or radiator so they are toasty warm when you climb out of bed.
Recreate early sunlight. Invest in a bedside lamp that simulates natural daylight. For example, Phillips’ ‘Wake-up Light’, endorsed by the National Sleep Foundation, gradually increases the light and comes with built in clock and alarm. Starting your day with natural light will activate your internal clock to be ready to take on the day.
Tune your alarm. Rather than a normal, annoying alarm clock, use your iPod or similar device to play specific songs that get you going. It doesn’t need to be your techno dance mix but something that lifts your mood and energy to begin your day with a smile on your face will do wonders for your ability to get out of bed on the first try.
Find a friend with benefits. No, not those kinds of benefits, but someone who will commit to join you in the morning for walks or workouts, and hold you accountable for showing up. Knowing someone is waiting for you and sharing the pain of the early darkness can be just the remedy for throwing back the covers and getting out of the house.
Excuse: “I may be out of bed but I still don’t want to go outside”
It’s easy to fall into a vicious cycle of excuses that destroy momentum and kill motivation to be active. Use these ideas to boost your mood from the get go.
Put your head under water. Resist the urge to stay in cozy-bed mode and rather than clinging to the comfort of your favorite housecoat while shuffling to the kitchen for a coffee, make a beeline to the shower. The water will wake you and getting dressed in day clothes right away will get going rather than lazily lounging over your latte. Then when you’re ready for your workout later in the day it’ll be easy to get to it.
Keep it simple smarty (K.I.S.S.). The best way to overcome our excuses is to not create them in the first place. The more things that need to fall into place to get to the gym on time, the more likely we are to find a reason not to. If you have to drive too far in the snow or ride a cold subway across town, you’re creating extra hurdles that will attract excuses. Keep it simple: go for a 25 minute run around the office block at lunch, do three laps of your neighborhood first thing, or switch things up at the gym by using only the cardio machines you don’t have to wait for. You’ll finish a quality workout with less hassle and at a pace that feels rewarding to try again.
Warm-up indoors. Jumping jacks, leg lifts, pushups in your living room before heading out will not only get your heart rate going and blood circulating, it will make it very difficult to slide back into bed. Excuses be gone!
Tap into technology. Proclaiming your intention to workout each day on Facebook, Twitter, your blog or online community (e.g. Nike+) can strengthen your commitment, even if it is to avoid the embarrassment and guilt of not following through.
Excuse: “I don’t have the same passion or fire to do it regularly”
While we all have our own motivations for what drives us in the summer, we may need a new perspective to keep going in the winter when we don’t have a big race immediately on the horizon to fuel our daily ambition to improve our skills and fitness.
These ‘idea starters’ can be your starting point on how to remain purposeful and motivated day in and day out.
See the big picture. Find, or make your own 12-week calendar of January to March. Put it on one page and post it somewhere you’ll see it every day (bedroom wall or office desk) . When you look at all three months together you realize how fast it’s going to go. Use this to plan and track your workouts and the winter events you’d like to participate in. Winter can seem long but if you focus on the big picture, you’ll see the spring thaw is just around the corner and you’ll want to be fit and ready for the first race of the year.
Remember what works for you. If you find yourself suitably motivated in the summer, what specifically created that? Targets? Goals? Friends? Coach? Competition? The great outdoors? How can you tap into the driving force and the feeling it creates in the summer and replicate something similar now? You might need to use your creativity a bit but there’s never an unstoppable excuse to really preventing you from keeping at the top of the game in the winter.
Turn from student to teacher. If you’re an experienced athlete now is a great time to offer your knowledge to someone who could use extra guidance to get into the sport. Is there someone you know that has commented they’d like to give tri a try? Become their mentor. Just be sure to ease them into it and go at their pace, not yours. You’ll find that sharing your enthusiasm with someone else will also give you enthusiasm to fuel your own workouts.
Step out of the ordinary. Months of in-season intensity and pushing your limits will tire the best of us. Do you need a physical break from what you’ve always done to give your body time to recover and heal? Take a yoga or pilates class which are easy on the joints yet provide lasting benefits. Do you need a mental break from a tough season? Cross train with a different sport that doesn’t require a stop watch or power meter and you can ease your mind knowing you’re staying active without the worry of getting faster.
Don’t hesitate. Give one of these a try this week and share YOUR ideas for what keeps you motivated.
Chris Janzen
Founder of TriathleteMind.com and Inner Game Coach