Motivation Philosophies | Ben Wilson Personal Trainer

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My Philosophies about Motivation and Mindset

When it comes to addressing the mind and motivation some of my main beliefs include –

Motivation – Your levels of motivation will rise and fall in a similar to our emotions. This is not a problem, we know it will happen so we need plans in place for periods of good and poor motivation. These plans will not be the same thing, e.g. an exercise sesion for when you are focused can be very different to when tired and stressed.

Addictions – Everyone has addictions though the behaviour itself may vary between individuals, e.g. alcohol, chocolate, biscuits or smoking etc. Addictive behaviours are our default strategy when emotions and life gets the better of us. The key for results is understanding this mechanism and creating alternative behaviour patterns while simultaneously reducing stress levels.

Food Cravings -There are both nutritional and emotional reasons we crave food. For complete resolution we therefore need to address both aspects. Read more on this in The 6 Types of Hunger. It is impossible to know how many cravings are emotional until you have resolved the physical issues. Many are surprised that their willpower is much stronger when you have taken away the many nutritional (and therefore genuine) cries from the body for something.

Willpower – This can be defined as the number of cravings you resist each week. Long term success though is how many cravings you have in the first place, not how many you resist. It is better to give in to all 3 cravings during a week than resist 66% of 9 cravings. For during periods of low motivation that 66% becomes 20%.

Eating strictly – A certain percentage of your meals every week you naturally want to eat correctly. Another percentage you want to have more freedom. This balances changes with mood. The key for success is when you are eating “strictly” is that you actually are eating correctly. Most people’s “good” nutrition is normally much worse than they believe it is and thus when it comes to eating more freely they are building on top of weak foundations. I use the concept of 100% and 0%, which is far more effective than 80%:20%. When being “good” be 100% on it. When being “bad” do not worry. It is then about learning the thresholds that define this.

Eating freely – I am all for eating foods for an experience – The new food, the new restaurant, the social occasion, the romantic dinner. However, I am all against eating that same comfort food time and time again. Eating freely is not the issue. It is eating regularly the wrong the foods in the wrong amounts. When this is resolved you can eat freely and get results. When you have the balance right eating for experience becomes even better. For most this is not the case.

Drinking – It is no different to eating “bad” foods. It has a place, it also has the potential to ruin results if not accounted for correctly. You do not need to be tea total for results. Likewise, you probably cannot drink a bottle of wine a night.

Stress – For most people, as their stress levels rise, their nutrition and exercise gets worse. The key is to create new behaviours to handle stressful periods more effectively. It is also prudent to investigate the very nature of stress, which is your thoughts and the weight you give to them being real over any external stimuli of “stress” itself. Techniques such energy therapy can also be most beneficial.

Happiness – The other side of the coin to stress is happiness. How happy you are is directly correlated to your health and fitness behaviours. Luckily exercise and eating right directly increases happiness so by following a plan you will feel happier. Investigation into the nature of happiness and thought can also make dramatic changes in your overall levels of well being and happiness.

Blocking beliefs – I used this term in my book, Change Your Thinking, Change Your Shape. A blocking belief is a belief that when held will prevent you getting the level of results you may desire. There is no such thing as a right or wrong belief but more simply the effect they have in the world. The less blocking beliefs you hold the easier it will be to get in shape without even trying.

Principles of Being in Amazing Shape – Certain behaviours will guarantee results. Whether we do these are based on our beliefs. The beliefs that create these most powerful behaviours are known as the Principles of Being in Amazing Shape. The second half my book goes in depth into these areas.

Natural Behaviour Patterns – What you currently do in every aspect of your life are your current natural behaviour patterns. The results you have or have not obtained in the real world are the direct consequence of these patterns. To change your body going forwards the underlying patterns must be changed so they automatically produce a better return on your efforts.

Behaviour Change Techniques – These methods are varied and are aimed at changing your behaviours from where you are now to where you need to get to. They also look at stress, happiness and success.

Coaching – This is the process of helping you get results. Forget thinking that losing weight or transforming your body is about having a Plan with tasks A, B and C. It is about doing it!!! Action!! Your body responds to what you do and coaching is about getting you to do what you need to do.

Summary

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