Yesterday I posted about motivation for going to the gym and some techniques I use to stay motivated. There always remains, though, the temptation of modern life – skipping the gym to go have a meal and drinks with friends – missing a session due to a lunchtime pizza meeting. And that is okay so long as the temptations do not take over.
If you have a specific goal, it is much easier to achieve that goal if you make yourself publicly accountable for it. Avoiding embarrassment is a powerful catalyst to getting great results.
There are a number of ways to achieve this. If your goal is to run at a certain pace or for a certain distance, enter yourself into some running contests. If your goal is to become stronger, you could find a weightlifting meet or contest and enter that. If your goal is to become leaner and more muscular, you might enter a body building or similar contest.
Of course a contest doesn’t need to be the ultimate goal. As embarrassing as it might seem social networks are a great way to help attain your goal. Post a Facebook status update or send a tweet stating your goal and timeframe, and post regular updates and/or photos to help keep you on track. This is something I do myself – of course folks probably take my photos on Facebook as vanity but for me it is just another tool to keep my progress in place.
Over Long Distances 