Stay motivated when progress is slow

Learn to spot forward motion, even when it’s not obvious

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is about how to stay motivated in long
term projects when progress is slow. This episode is first
running in mid February. We're several weeks into the new year.

(00:26):
Many people resolved to get in shape around January one,
but as life intervenes, many people fall off the wagon.
One gym chain went so far as to analyze their
customer data and declare a fitness cliff, which is right
around February ninth or so. We've talked in past episodes
about the challenges with New Year's resolutions. One of these

(00:49):
is that people fail to account for the realities of
their lives. I think another major one is that progress
on any project can be slow. I am not a
big fan of the common resolution to lose weight. In
my mind, better to focus on healthy habits and let
the scale go where it goes. However, if you have
chosen this as a resolution, even if you do everything right,

(01:13):
it's hard to sustain healthy weight loss of more than
about half a pound a week. People naturally cycle up
and down through the day. Women often cycle up and
down through the month, and these swings can easily be
four to five pounds in normal healthy people. So if
you do the math, this seems that responsible weight loss
can look like nothing for at least the first month

(01:35):
or two. No wonder people's motivation flags. But there are
ways to avoid falling off the motivation cliff. The first
is to celebrate other winds, whether you're losing weight or not.
A good workout feels well good, so celebrate that endorphin
rush as an extra moment of healthy happiness added to

(01:55):
your life. Maybe you made a new friend at the gym.
Celebrate that there's now someone else in your life whose
name you know and who you care about. If you
can lift a little heavier or run a little faster,
make a note of this. You may be able to
see progress here a lot faster than other sorts of progress,
So keep a detailed blog that you can study anytime

(02:16):
you're feeling like not much is changing. You can also
think more in terms of identity than results. I maintain
that anything you do three times a week is a habit,
so celebrate any steps towards your goal that you managed
to do three times a week. If you're trying to
write a book. Three hour long writing sessions during the
week is an accomplishment, so treated as such. Now you're

(02:40):
a writer, talk about this, refer to yourself this way,
and finally, it might help to do some mental time travel. Yes,
progress is slow and seems negligible now, but soon what
you're seeing now will disappear in the rear view mirror.
Losing half a pound a week seems like nothing at first,
but a few months the future, even at that pace,

(03:02):
you'll be outside the regular swings. You may only have
a few thousand words in your novel now, but those
words do accumulate, and someday you'll have tens of thousands
of words. So picture your future self celebrating these winds.
You could even write a letter to your future self
talking about what you're doing now to achieve these winds,

(03:24):
and as soon as you do start to see real progress,
thank your past self for making these choices. Even if
this all feels a little silly, acknowledgement goes a long way,
and hopefully that will keep you going to the gym
past mid February. How do you stay motivated for long
term projects? I'd love to hear about it. You can

(03:45):
email me at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media dot com.
In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and
here's to making the most of our time. M Hey everybody,
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

(04:09):
me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
That's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast
is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

(04:36):
a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.