Motivation

We usually feel motivated when we start something new. When we are motivated, we find it easier to do the activity we had planned, whether that’s going for a swim or cooking more meals at home. But motivation can be hard to maintain and after a few weeks, we sometimes start to find reasons not to do things that can stop us from reaching our goals.

What motivates me?

Spend five minutes to think about what motivates you to be more physically active and eat a healthier diet and make some notes. Your initial thoughts might be ‘because I want to look and feel better’. The key here is to dig a bit deeper into your thinking – try asking yourself why you want these things. Why you might want to be more active or have a healthier diet. Think about what matters to you and what you will do more of once you have achieved those things. For example, you may want to be more physically active to increase your fitness, so you’re able to play with your children more often.

My values

Take a look at your notes. These are the things that are important to you – they are your values. You may want to write them on a sticky note and have them around the house or put them in a place where you will read them each morning. Keeping your values in mind throughout your journey can help you maintain your motivation and stay focused on reaching your goals.

Making healthy behaviours my new habits

To eat a healthier diet and be more physically active, we have to change our behaviour. When we practice a new behaviour over and over again, it becomes a habit - something that feels easier for us to do regularly, and so we rely less on motivation. Making new behaviours part of our daily routine helps to make them stick. This might include being physically active on set days or at set times every week or writing a meal plan for the week ahead, every Monday night. It may also include smaller changes, like filling up water bottles and leaving them around the house to help you drink more water or setting reminders to get active on your phone.