My Motivation

Quite a decent number of people have asked me why I lift weights. Why I hit the gym. Why I make it a point not to miss a training day if I can help it. What am I trying to prove when I lift those weights. Sometimes I get confused by the questions. Would you not want to be a better version of yourself? Do you not want to preserve your youthfulness? Aren't you a tad bit competitive?

I have internal motivation and I have external motivation.

I'm competitive with myself. There is this crazy fire within me to always be the best that I can be. Maybe it's the upbringing, the schooling, the friends, the family. Maybe it's just the classic Alpha Female trait. I don't know. What I do know is I benchmark myself against the best. And if I can be the best then that is great. If not, I'll die trying.

Kasey sometimes has to comfort me if I'm being too hard on myself. It's good to have a trainer that understands how you tick. A trainer like that will know how to push you and know when to make you feel better. Which leads me to external motivation....

There's positive external motivation and negative external motivation.

Positive external motivation are people like Kasey, Adeline, Kevin and DM who are always there to support me. To give me guidance and advice. To cheer me along. To make me feel proud of my accomplishments. Kasey in particular, makes it a point to spend at least an hour almost every day with me, imparting his knowledge so that I can be a better version of myself. The least I can do is not let him down.

And then there's negative motivation. This kind of motivation isn't too bad. Ever had someone try to discredit you and ridicule your actions? Who hasn't, right? How do you handle that kind of behaviour? At work and at training, I've experienced it.

Sometimes it gets to me (I am only a mere mortal). Most times it doesn't. I prefer to just keep my head low, work hard and let the results speak for itself. I let their negative energy fuel my desire to be a better version of myself. I remind myself that I am brought up well and not retaliate by making baseless, misinformed and uneducated statements about others.

Everytime I achieve something new, a smug smile appears on my face and I know I am on the right track. I don't need to justify my actions. That is the trait of insecure souls. I don't need to ridicule others, that is the trait of cowards.

What I need to do is shut up, dig deep, and get on with the programme. Everytime I prove a person wrong, I am vindicated. And that vindication motivates me.

So enough about me, how about you guys. What motivates you?