Issue 396 - A Right Kick In The Peculiars

Hi,
I hope Monday finds you well.

It's a motivation issue this week.
I found out at the end of last week that I hadn't got into the London Marathon.

I knew the chances of me getting in were fairly small, so I made plans about what to do if I didn't, basically doing my own marathon on the local streets at the same time on the same date.
I was surprised to find that in fact my motivation took a huge blow.

It was like a kick in the you-know-wheres.
A kick in the never-you-minds.
A kick in the ne'er-do-wells.
Do you get the picture?

In fact, get your imagination working on this one.
I want you to imagine you and me, standing facing each other, like 2 cowboys ready for a duel.
Legs akimbo, arms by our side.

Now I want you to change your image to a construction worker.
We're getting into Village People territiry here, but stick with me on it...

So, you are a construction worker, in a hard hat, overalls, and steel toe-capped boots.
I'm in a cowboy outfit, and there's plenty of sequins around (Village People).

Ok, now imagine you run towards me, as fast as you can, take a full swing with your leg, and your steel toe-capped foot lands smack in the middle of my peculiars.
Now *that's* how my motivation feels!

At the moment it feels lke the only reason to carry on training for another 4 months is just because I said I would.
One feature of long distance running which may sound obvious, bur doesn't really hit home until you do it, is that after a certain distance, it hurts to carry on!
You have to push yourself past the point at which your body is saying 'enough'.

What I'm going to do is take a few days off training, and use one of my goal achievement tricks.
It's a good one, has worked for me many times, and I'm sure will work again, and it's this...

When you go through a bad patch, or hit an obstacle, do *not* take negative action.
What I mean by that is to not take any backward decisions during this period.
Knocks are inevitable when trying to achieve something and motivation will ebb and flow.
When motivation is high, put things in action which will bear long term fruit.
When motivation is low, it can be easy to put things in action which you may regret when your motivation returns.

Is it possible that your motivation doesn't return?
Yes, and that's an indication that you didn't have the desire you thought you had for the goal.
That's not necessarily a bad thing, at least you won't look back and wonder what if.

If you desire the goal enough, your motivation will return, probably more than before, and when it does, you'll be glad you took no negative decision when motivation waned.

Ok, that's it for this week, remember my trick for any lulls you get in motivation.

Have a good week.
'Til Next Time,
Health and Happiness,
Gordon
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