motivational advice

flogen

while this isnt as important as cheating partners and depression, my lack of motivation is something that often adversly effects my life, and I was wondering if anyone can help me out with getting myself motivated? (mods, feel free to move if this doesnt suit).

Basically, while I'm not totally lazy, I am a serial procrastinator. I want to get fit, but I cant get myself motivated to do it. I'm not obese or fat, but I could do with losing a bit of weight and getting active for the sake of my future health, but I just keep putting it off.
In college last year, I slowly slipped in my assignments so that I was staying up all night before the deadline to get the work in. Naturally this isnt ideal, and a rushed project is often a bad one, so the marks I got could have been a lot better in many aspects.
Now heres the biggest pain. My goal in life is to be a novelist (among other things), and I have at least 1 solid idea which is well thought out and IMO worth telling, but I just cant get myself to write it. Because there is no deadlline on it, I just keep putting it off, something I fear I will do for years to come!

I just need something to get me organised and motivated, so I can dedicate a certain amount of time a day to college work, to exercise and to writing my great Irish novel . Can anyone suggest any techniques or tips and tactics to do this??

thanks, all advice greatly appreciated.

flogen

JBoyle4eva

I know what you mean! Having motavation while trying to lose those extra pounds can be awfully hard, but I found this link on eHow.com on how to stay motivated while excercising!

But, keeping movation on the other stuff I can't find just yet. But I'll try and find other links!

JBoyle4eva

Here's some more help from eHow on 'How to Have a Strong Finish to Your Semester or Quarter '

Sarky

I've been in a similar boat myself. Not about fitness, just general motivation. The only way to get out of the rut was to bite the bullet and go for it, and keep at it until it became a habit, not an effort.

SantaHoe

The jyst of most of this stuff is - making a list of attainable goals, commiting yourself to take steps towards them, then rewarding yourself for them.
Then they pad out the book with examples of Mary and Jane who did blah blah... throw in a few tidy phrases to chant to yourself in the mirror, and badda-bing; money in the bank.
I don't think there's any silver bullet or single mantra that instantly gets you motivated, more confident, more friends, a better job, a bigger penis... but if reading any of these motivational books makes you stop and think about your own mental blocks to actually getting things done, then I suppose it's a good start.

But don't listen to me, I'm the least motivated person I know... or maybe I'm just so motivated to do so many things that I don't know where to start

claire h

I can offer advice on the novel-writing, at any rate...

Sign up for National Novel Writing Month. It says national, is based in the US, but people all over the world do it. Basically the idea is that you write a minimum of 50,000 words in November, and there's forums to talk to other people and everyone's doing it at the same time so you're motivated. And your profile shows how many words you've done so far, and such like. The idea is that you're just writing and writing and writing, getting that first draft down on paper within a short space of time, and worrying about editing later. If you want to write something, this is a good way to get started - it's only for a month, it's 1667 words a day every day, and at the end of it you'll have something that you can polish and revise and do whatever you want with. (I think they also have an associated editing month thing going on in March.)

As for the other stuff... once you organise one area of your life, it becomes easier to manage your time and to create a timetable that allocates specific slots for exercise and such like.

ven0m

FLOGEN: I want to get fit, but I cant get myself motivated to do it. I'm not obese or fat, but I could do with losing a bit of weight and getting active for the sake of my future health, but I just keep putting it off.

I didn't need self-motivation for this, my Dr gave me two options (a) get fitted for smaller clothes after losing weight, or (b) get fitted for a wodden box.... talk about a motivator... 4 stone + later & I can't be without a trip to the gym or eating right..... I kept putting it off for years too - your health above all else is the most important, ye ain't got that - ye ain't got jack shhh....

::: ven0mous :::

Eurorunner

Anthony Robbins motivational cds @ www.anthonyrobbins.com

Found the 'get the edge' series beneficial. However, they are simply an aide - the rest is up to the individual = as it will always be. I acquired these via fileshare. Whilst they can only help, I don't think that they are worthwhile at the price offered. Clearly, Mr. Robbins has a few financial goals of his own!