Self-motivation

I heard a speaker about a year ago give a speech about self-motivation and how self-analysis of the success failure has a huge impact on continued self-motivation. The example she used was exercise. The national whatever group recommendations are for say 30 minutes 3 times a week (made up these numbers). If you have been doing no exercise and you start and hold yourself to that recommendation anything less is a failure. Whereas 30 minutes 3 times a week should be your long term goal, not your week 1 goal. If you take 1 walk for any length of time that first week, that a success for you. So if you've been getting no exercise and you walk 10 minutes twice the first week and then 10 minutes 3 times the 2nd, you've had a 50% increase in your exercise from week 1 to week 2. You have to use where you start to base your success/failure, not some arbitrary value that someone has created.

I found this post in my drafts. I don't remember starting to type it, but it is something that was good for me to find today as a reminder that small steps are important. Anytime you do something better than you used to, is a success for yourself, regardless of if it meets some arbitrary standard set by someone else.