Keeping your motivation up and running while aging…

As we age, we can lose motivation to do things. Why does this happen? Keeping your motivation up and running while aging can be challenging. I have a father that is eighty-six years old and realized that his motivation goes up and down depending on how he is feeling. That makes perfect sense. I also see how having something to look forward to keeps his motivation going. Our family tries to plan trips or day outings throughout the year for this. He will spend hours researching and planning things to do while on the trip. But, what brought me to this topic? Someone asked me why I was going back to school at “my age”? Yes, I am sixty years old and have been in school for the last ten years off and on. I realized that learning drove my motivation to learn and improve. It did not matter if it was an art class or a computer class, I enjoyed it. However, the psychology classes were the most interesting. I am fascinated by how humans think, how we form habits-good or bad, and what drives us. Psychology and listening to a couple of life coach’s podcast was like a gas light that just happened. Then I started thinking and being curious about what really causes us to keep or improve our motivation and what can I do to help me get motivated in other areas in my life. That is when I decided, I am going to not only get a degree in Psychology but go on to get my master’s. I also committed myself to go through a certification program to become a health and life coach. I am sure some of you are asking, what in the hell is a life coach? Well, to keep it simple, we help people living good lives to start living great lives! I help them come up with what they want more or less in their lives, we then set up some goals, and work together-through some support and MOTIVATION to achieve these goals! Now you know! Why am I so interested in learning how to get myself or others to stay motivated? I want to keep myself motivated not only for me but when I am helping others reach their goals. Of course, I am being trained about self-sabotage and how we all can let our mind come up with these thoughts that don’t serve us. Our thoughts run silly stories throughout our minds that can cause this self-sabotage. We might be saying oh I do not need to get on the treadmill, I really need to do laundry-or FaceBook LOL. We all need to keep reminding ourselves that the part of our brain that wants to keep us safe, and in cave! So, how do we keep your motivation up and running while aging?

According to my favorite online magazine, Verywellmind has motivation as; Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. Of course, there are biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate our behavior, but I am thinking about the emotional and cognitive forces that keep up our motivation even while we are aging. We all can fluctuate in our motivation and willpower. Sometimes we might feel fired up and driven to reach your goals, while at other times we might feel low energy or unsure of what we truly want or how to achieve it. Even if we are feeling low on motivation, there are steps we can take that will keep us moving forward and moving in the right direction.

Adjust our goals to focus on things that really matter to us. We might be trying to accomplish something that is not going to make us any happier or better. For instance, clean out all the closets. Why does messy closets matter? Do you really want neater closets? Hmm. Your call.

If you're tackling something that is just too big or too overwhelming, break it up into smaller steps and try setting your sights on achieving that first step toward progress. For instance, you want to lose 40 pounds, start with 5 pounds this month. Small hinges swing big doors. Go for the little wins! This gives us confidence and confidence will help with the motivation! Or, you want to give up smoking, try to give up one of the times that you always have a cigarette. For instance, you always have a cigarette while drinking your coffee in the morning. Start practicing not having a cigarette with coffee! This is a habit that has formed an addiction. Try undoing the habit slowly. Don't let age factor into saying I am too old to change, really? What does that mean? Maybe as we get older, we need to change our wants a little to fit our body. Kind of like me going water skiing at sixty. I loved the thrill of getting up but my body was so worn out from the struggle. I gave up the sport completely do to my body lol. I will stick to a the tube ride!

It all really boils down to our mindset. We need to make up our minds to get the motivation rolling. What motivates you? Ponder on that a while!

Hope you feel a little more motivated!

Have a beautiful day!