OH! Magazine - Australian Version December 2018 | Page 7

( FITNESS & MOTIVATION )
THE SECRET TO
MOTIVATION IS A REASON
Oscar Chavez explains his secret to motivation.
I
woke up to the sound of the alarm
clock screeching in my ears.
The harsh realisation hit that my weary,
unrested, heavy, dry-eyed body would
need to elegantly spring out of bed and
stare directly into the flaming sun. Well,
that’s what it felt like anyway...
Motivation, you see, is misunderstood.
Misdiagnosed.
Falsely accused.
Because I believe that motivation is a
reason, not a feeling.
When I negotiate with someone, if we
both agree to the reasons for closing the
deal, and the deal gets done. The
motivation to close is simply, a reason.
So if you feel like you’re lacking
‘motivation’ to achieve your goal then it
could simply mean that your reasons are
not strong enough.
warrant the hard work.
In this instance, the conversation you
have with yourself needs to change; you
need to go deeper.
From unparallelled experience in dealing
with matters of obesity, I found that the
reasons you have to look after your health
must tie directly into your identity. I asked
myself, ‘What will my identity be if I don’t
adopt these new rituals?’
From there, it’s pretty easy to negotiate
with yourself when the alarm is screeching
uncomfortably in your ear, signalling the
time to get up and get your sweat on.
I’m sure you could imagine exactly what
your life would be like if health wasn’t a
part of your self-care routine. Can you
picture exactly who you might be at your
worst?
into your reasons for keeping fit and
healthy, and not missing your workouts.
I have to look after me, if I want to be the
best person I can, for the people I love
and adore, like my two kids. And I need to
see my grandchildren grow up; for me,
these are compelling reasons that warrant
the hard work I have to do.
I’ve found that the further into the future
I can imagine myself in, the better the
reasons I have.
And when you’re not playing the ‘short
game’ (e.g. ‘lose 10kg in 10 days’), you
make less mistakes, follow less fads and
you look for something that is truly
sustainable. And it is here, when your
reasons are strong enough, that you’ll
have motivation in endless supply!
The pain of discipline or the pain of regret
– the choice is yours.
Think about that for a moment.
You haven’t done the hard work of
justifying to yourself that the reason for
the hard work gives you enough benefit to
AFTER
You don’t want that reality.
But those undesirable realities need to tie
Oscar Chavez
Oscar is a #1 best-selling author, and the
founder of Health with Results.
BEFORE
OH! MAGAZINE ( DECEMBER 2018 )
7