If you died tomorrow – what would people say about you, and your life? What would you want them to say?

Instead of waiting until it is arguably too late and face the top 5 common regrets (see the article below), contemplating the question of our own mortality can actually be very motivating.

Sam & Gina discuss how their own experiences have helped shape their lives and their actions, and take a light-hearted look at the fact that we don’t ever know when our ‘time’ will come. What would you be inspired to do if you realised you’d regret never having done it?

Click here to see the topic suggestion Rob shared on Facebook, and the article that inspired it.

What is the point of making new year’s resolutions, intentions, or ambitions for you?

Are they to achieve something important? To acquire new accolades? Or simply to gain material things that add to the joy of life?

As an avid goal setter for 10 years now (…in fact, the date of my first entry in the notebook where I write my goals is January 2, 2002. Exactly ten years ago), I’ve set my share of grand ambitions and planned for smaller pleasures.

I’ve covered the range from traveling to far away places, experiencing some of the world’s most fascinating events, and learning new skills to advance my career, health, finances and relationships.

When I look back on my list, there is a strong theme of ‘accomplishment’. I wanted to accomplish things and experience stuff and by-and-large, I did just that.

Yet along my journey my perspective has changed.

I’m in a much different place in my life now than I was ten years ago, let alone 3 years ago when I was a marketing career man working 50-60hrs a week while trying to do it all. However, I’m still as ambitious as ever and my list of goals continues to grow.

But I’ve realised there is a more important purpose to my plans.

I believe there is a very important ingredient to successfully achieving your dreams that is usually forgotten and often unknown. And that is this:

We don’t set goals for what they give us, we set goals in order to become the person we need to become in order to live the life that we want.

You might want to read that statement again.

Who do you need to become this year to achieve your goals?

• A person of stronger faith and conviction for what you believe in?
• A person of deeper courage to face your challenges and succeed?
• A person with a bigger purpose and daily motivation to blast through any setbacks and barriers?
• A person that inspires others to raise their standards?
• A leader by example and a person of your word?

For all of your exciting or scary plans for the year ahead, I encourage you to add this dimension to your plan of attack.

If you haven’t written down your goals for 2012 yet, then do so this week.

And along side those goals, try to identify who you would need to become in order for that to become a reality. What part of your inborn courage, strength, love, compassion, resiliency, enthusiasm, creativity and ambition needs to shine? What elements of your personality need to drive your decisions and actions? What inside of you needs to determine your daily behaviour?

Who will you become in 2012?

Leave us a comment and share how you would like to grow this year. How can we help you?

It may be arbitrary but the turn of a new year is a perfect opportunity to set a plan for what you want to experience, create, have and do over the next 12 months.

Part of what spurns us on to thinking about our future is the middle of December to early January, for most, is a time where we have time less time at work and spend more time with friends and family. This end of year cycle is a perfect catalyst for reconnecting with what matters most.

But knowing what matters (or what you want to achieve) and making it so are wildly different things.

Having spent a huge portion of my adult life investigating what makes the difference between ‘those who achieve what they want’ and ‘those who try but don’t, or don’t really try at all’, I’ve learnt that 99% of the time it comes down to five factors.

Five factors that are within your control.

1. Clarity

It’s near impossible to succeed when you don’t know what success looks like for you. Most people — not a general statement but a quantifiable one from surveying hundreds of people — have a loose, or vague, or ill-defined outcome they are working so hard for. Check this with yourself: What are you currently working so hard for, putting in lots of time and energy? Do you know what specifically you want to have or feel when you’re done?

Pick one goal or dream or intention you want in your life in 2012 and spend focused time on getting clear and specific on what that final outcome looks like, feels like or does for you.

Clarity is an essential starting point.

2. Conviction and Motivation

Let’s face it, with all the demands in our lives today it is incredibly challenging to stay on track with what you want and not get pulled in dozens of directions from distractions and other people’s requests. That’s life! And it’s your job to keep your most important things front and centre in your life.

Yet even when it’s on our to do list we still need conviction to put in the day-to-day investment – sometimes baby steps and other times giant leaps of faith – to keep working at it.

For your main goals in 2012, strengthen your motivation to make consistent progress. Get clear on WHY you want to do this. Summarise all the benefits you — and those around you — will gain from achieving this goal and reflect on that list on a very regular basis.

3. A plan for inaction

If you’re clear and inspired to take action you still need a plan to get it done. However, you also need to prepare how you’ll respond when things don’t go your way, when you get sidetracked or disillusioned at your results along the way. How will you respond to setbacks? How will you get yourself out of a rut of frustration, procrastination or overwhelm?

Successful goal achievement is not just about taking action but it’s mostly about how to overcome the hurdles along the way.

Here are three sentences worth completing when you sit down and design your action steps:

If I get frustrated with lack of progress, in order to keep going or find a better way I will….

If I find days or weeks passing by without taking any action towards my goals, I can get back on track by….

If I’m really stuck and not sure where to begin, or am overwhelmed by everything I need to do, I can ease my way forward by…

4. Habits of Success

As Aristotle noted long, long ago, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit”. Our day-to-day behaviour is largely driven by our habits.

Habits of behaviour, thoughts and feelings. For example, do you have habits that build physical health or erode it? What is your ritual the first moment you turn on your computer at the start of the day – productive work or guilty pleasures?

Your success in the next year is a direct reflection of the balance sheet of your habits — those that serve you in achieving your goals and those that prevent you from getting closer to them.

What habits will you need to create for your big goals? Which habits do you need to eliminate in order to make consistent (and enjoyable) steps towards living the life you want?

5. Be open and seek support from others

You’re not always going to have the answers, the willpower or the energy necessary to take action. No great things are achieved in isolation.

Collaborate with others on solving the problems in your way. Find a quick tip via Google. Get a coach or mentor to help you to navigate to your end destination. Join a like-minded online community to gain ideas and a network of enthusiastic supporters.

For all of your goals, identify a Top 3 list of people, tools or resources you can tap into when you’re stuck or when you simply start to feel your motivation fade. Nip it in the bud and get back on track!

This is where the magic happens. If you fail to address these Big Five you’re likely headed for a year of missed opportunity, frustration or regret. So give yourself the gift of spending quality time thinking – and writing – through all of these. It’s a wonderful way to kick start your year with optimism and vibrancy.

You’ll be hearing a lot more from ActionPodcast on these points in 2012 and we look forward to helping you achieve fun and rewarding success throughout the year.

No Regrets...

This is a time of the year when our thoughts turn reflective as we look back at the year we’ve had.

Can you say there’s nothing you regret?

Chris and Sam reckon it’s not too late to turn things around – whether it is something that didn’t happen or something that didn’t turn out as you’d hoped. Pick one thing you’d like to either resolve or at least progress a little, before the year is out. (We help out with some relationship examples). The more emotionally charged the better!

A baby step could see you dissolving a regret, freeing up some emotional energy or creating a stronger foundation to move forward from in 2012.

Make a real difference to this year and your relationships this week!

At the beginning you feel like you’ve thought everything through and you’re really motivated to get going. Everything seems to be going great! Your plans have paid off and your journey towards your goal couldn’t seem easier.

So… why do you begin to slip?

Unless something happens to get you back on track, your goals seem to fade into obscurity.

You find yourself missing the odd gym session, and not being quite as organised. Whatever it is, you can feel yourself slipping back into your old ways. Unless something happens to get you back on track, your goals seem to fade into obscurity and before you know it, weeks have passed since you did anything you initially planned so hard for.

Often you can come up with a whole host of reasons why things faded away. But it always boils down to one thing:

Being accountable for your own actions gets harder

More important than what happens, is how and why it happens. There can be a whole host of reasons:

• You don’t feel you are progressing fast enough, so things get boring
• You find the going gets tough and other things seem to keep getting in the way, so you start to let them
• You aren’t sure you even want this goal anymore. You find it hard to remember why you thought this was a good idea!

I’m sure you can think of lots of other reasons, but the great news is that the solution is always the same.

GET ACCOUNTABLE!

If any of the above sounds familiar to you, then now is the moment to change it. Get someone else to hold you accountable to your own goals. Share with them your reasons for wanting them in the first place. Other people seem to have an amazing memory for repeating your own words back at you! If you feel things start to get tough, tell someone, ask for help, advise, tips, tricks, anything to help you get over your current hurdle. Finally, give them permission to check in on you once in a while to see how things are going.

You can even ask me to personally help you with this. Just drop me an email with what it is you are trying to achieve. I’ll help you keep that motivation bubbling along. An even more effective method, is for you to post your goal, plan and any expected hurdles here in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.

So there you have it, Email / Comment  or Facebook. Choose whichever one feels it will be the most effective for you. Let us, help you.

Sometimes it feels like we’re swinging from one extreme to the other – one moment careening towards a crash, and a moment later, struggling up the mountain without a clear view of when (or if) we’ll reach the top.

Life can feel like a rollercoaster ride of heady peaks and stomach-churning troughs, and whilst we would all be terribly bored if it was just a flat track to the horizon… wouldn’t it be great if we could learn to balance out those pendulum-swings just a little? Even-it-up a bit so that it flowed more smoothly, and we could actually start to enjoy the ride?

Sam joins Paul on his train-journey of discovery into how we can keep the momentum and motivation flowing when we need it most!

I’ve now been going back to the gym for 3 weeks, 4-5 times a week. I’ve discovered that if I just go to the gym 2-3 times a week my days off become too tempting for me to have “just another” day off. Always promising myself “I’ll go tomorrow!”, which of course I ended up repeating the next day, until every shred of motivation had been stripped away.

So my first trick is to go every day. Even if it’s only for 30-45 minutes.

After a few days of this routine, or especially after a nice relaxing and rather over indulgent weekend, I would find Mondays a bit of a struggle. So this time I ended up allowing myself to reel off all the excuses of why I didn’t need to go today… but while I was actually getting ready and walking out of the door!

It was a bit like when you see a mother trying to put a coat on a petulant child. The child loudly protests and gives all the reasons why she doesn’t want, or need to wear her coat. However, when the mother humorously just agrees with her daughter, the child allows her to put it on.

During my own wrestle with my inner voice – while getting dressed for the gym – I managed to come up with the following excuses:

• It’s very early
• I’m still tired
• Maybe I’m hungover
• I might be ill
• I can take a day off
• I can go tomorrow
• Maybe I could go later
• Oh, I don’t have my iPod I will definitely have to go back home
• If I go back home I may as well stay there, it’s not worth it…

I was actually about 10 paces out of my front door by the time the iPod excuse was thrown in. But I didn’t turn around, I just kept marching my petulant child (my inner voice) off to the gym.

The great thing about this technique is that you end up building your motivation by doing what you really want to do, despite all the de-motivating self-talk. The following day, my motivation had returned to almost full strength. By today (Wednesday) I had no problem what-so-ever!

Remember, it’s ACTION that promotes MOTIVATION, not in-action.

I was lucky enough to attend a workshop of Julia’s here in London recently. Her amazing way of engaging the subconscious and allowing it full expression, despite the ego’s resistance was a wonderful exercise in giving my creativity full reign. I remembered long forgotten dreams of photography, art and dance. Working in pairs we blasted through self-doubt and internal critics to discover what we would truly love to create. And the best thing? It doesn’t have to be perfect.

I have listed below some of the questions that helped us reach this awareness. And I hope that you find them equally challenging and enlightening. And that this self-questioning will take you closer to your heartfelt desires to create – each and every day of your life. Just keep it simple.

1. Family
What did your mother think about artists and creativity?
What did your father think about artists and creativity?

2. What was the art form you practised as a child?

3. What’s the art form you lust after RIGHT NOW?

4. If you had 5 ‘other’ lives what would they be? And what small action can you take right now to taste some of those lives. eg dancer – take dance classes.

5. List 15 things/activities you absolutely love.

6. List 7 artistic U-turns. e.g. I started piano but gave up when I started dating…

7. If you didn’t have to do it perfectly, what would you try right now?  e.g. learn to ride a motorbike, play piano etc

8. List 5 Ways You are Mean to Yourself

9. List 5 Ways You are Loving to Yourself

10. List 5 adventures you’d like to have

11. What Do You Need To Try?

12. What Do You Need to Know?

13. What Do You Need to Accept?

14. Write a letter from your 8-year-old self to your current self.

15. Write a letter from your 80-year-old self to your current self.

Just a few examples of a little creative archaeology! And keep asking yourself, ‘What Do I Love’ You might be surprised at the answer.

HAPPY CREATING!

One-tenth of 2011 is now gone. How was it for you?

Are you off to a flying start like an Olympic sprinter? Are you really making an effort to do what you want to do? Having more fun, checking off your to-do list with a steady flow of energy and optimism?

Or are you still stuck in the starting blocks? Putting off what really matters to you or perhaps waiting for some issues to clear before starting on your goals for the year? Maybe just postponing real action until you ‘feel more motivated’?

What you do, and how you behave in the first 1/10^th of the year can create massive momentum for the remaining 90% — both positive and encouraging momentum to continue to build on, and sluggish downward-spiral momentum that’s often hard to break away from.

Either way, the past has passed, and what’s done is done. The great news is there is still 90% of the year remaining!  So if you’re not off to an inspiring start, use today as your new beginning and promise yourself not to waste another minute!

It just comes down to the decisions we make right now: do I want more out of this year than last? How would I feel this time next year if I don’t try harder now? I will accept responsibility for my own success and happiness and make sure to take the actions necessary to making this a successful, happy, fun and exciting year and finally take control of living the life I want.

If you’re not sure where to get started, stay tuned for an exciting announcement from ActionPodcast.

This year at ActionPodcast, we have made the same promise – we are going to walk more of our walk and make the most of the next 90%, here’s our commitment: to do more to help you create extreme positive momentum in your life; encourage and inspire you to stay on track and on target for your ambitions and dreams; continue to help you get back up and dust yourself off whenever you fall down and life gets overwhelming.

And of course, there are loads of new helpful blog posts and insightful podcasts on our website to make sure you stay on path for taking everyday action in order to create a year you can really be proud of.  We’ll do it together.

Decide today to do one thing, just one small action right now, that will move you closer to what you want, and soon you’ll be doing more and more things that accelerate your success.

Leave a comment to let us know how your first 10% has been – good or bad – and how you’re going to make the next 10% even better.

The first week of January is a very potent, magical time. It’s a great opportunity to sit back and reflect on the past year: your successes and achievements, and also a look at things that didn’t work out quite as you’d planned.

Many of us have New Year’s resolutions we’d like to put into action, but all too often by the third week of January, they are forgotten dreams. Put into mothballs for December 31st next year.

If you’re like me, you probably want to change the pattern this year. To somehow stay motivated, pick goals that are attainable (as well as nudging yourself out of your comfort zone) and make your dreams a 3D, tangible reality.

In order to get results in 2011 it’s essential to keep your goals and aspirations SMART:

S: specific, significant stretching.
M: measurable, meaingful, motivational.
A: achievable, attainable, action-oriented.
R: realistic, relevant, results-oriented.
T: tangible, time-based, trackable

So, if your goal is to lose weight, start by joining a gym, work out a regular exercise programme and take a look at eliminating foods from your diet that are keeping the flab on. And be realistic. You’re not going to be totally toned in just 2 weeks, it could take several months. Give yourself treats along the way to encourage and support yourself. Get a gym or exercise buddy who can help you keep accountability and get you to those classes.

If your goal is to write that long thought-about book this year, join a writing class, start a stream of consciousness writing every morning. Take small, achievable steps towards achieving your goal. Have a plan of writing so many words a day – and stick to it.

Carrot or Stick?
Some of us work well when we have a reward in sight, others need deadlines to make us cross the finishing line. Whether you’re a carrot or stick person, work out what works best for you.

Accountability buddy – or life coach
Find a friend or professional coach whom you’ll be accountable to. I’ve found this to be the most successful way to achieve goals. Knowing I have someone to be accountable to ups the stakes and makes me want to succeed that much more.

Create a vision board
Get a piece of large coloured cardboard and start collecting images from magazines that embody the life you want to live. From the geographical location, to the type of partner you want to be with, to the kind of house you want to live in. This is not only a fun exercise, it really works.

Feel into your dreams
Above all, take time out, sit down, close your eyes and begin to imagine your ideal life. Have you been striving for things that in your heart you don’t really want? Once you move from your head to your heart, and begin to use your intuition the answers will come rapidly. You’ll see signs along the way leading you along the perfect path for you. Once you start practising this daily meditation you’ll begin to trust yourself more. And realise that only YOU know what’s best for you.

Happy New Year and happy manifesting!

If you think something should take 45 mins then setting an alarm for that time not only keeps you on track but also serves as a reminder that you need to focus on what you are doing. It’s also great for making sure you take breaks that will actually add to your motivation rather than hinder it.

Chris and Gina reveal many other tips to help you make a conscious effort to keeping on track and on time.

If you have downloaded the podcast from iTunes remember to post a review and visit our website at ActionPodcast.com to leave a comment or contact one of the presenters directly. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the podcast directly to your inbox, plus an additional weekly blog post!

Sam and Paul as the question of “So what?” to challenge themselves before someone else does!

If you have downloaded the podcast from iTunes remember to post a review and visit our website at ActionPodcast.com to leave a comment or contact one of the presenters directly. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the podcast directly to your inbox, plus an additional weekly blog post!

If you have downloaded the podcast from iTunes remember to post a review and visit our website at ActionPodcast.com to leave a comment or contact one of the presenters directly. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the podcast directly to your inbox, plus an additional weekly blog post!

If you have downloaded the podcast from iTunes remember to post a review and visit our website at ActionPodcast.com to leave a comment or contact one of the presenters directly. Sign up for our newsletter to receive the podcast directly to your inbox, plus an additional weekly blog post!

Why did you do that?

Why didn’t you do what you said you would?

The reason being is that this type of questioning normally results in the client having to justify themselves and can put them in a defensive stance. This frame of mind is the type of situation we find ourselves in, often as children but not exclusively, when we are asked to explain something.

Immediately your defences go up and your brain goes into overdrive to come up with a reason, whether it is strictly honest doesn’t matter. Making sure that you “save face” by providing a valid reason, for your actions or inactions, seems to take an unreasonable priority. Basically you end up saying what you think is the right thing to say instead of what really matters, the truth.

It’s completely automatic and without some time to stop, consider and re-evaluate, it’s really hard not to snap into that defensive mode. So we, as coaches, like to avoid putting our clients into a defensive mode by avoiding the “Why?” question.

However, sometimes that is exactly what you want someone to do when they are in need of some kind of motivational affirmation.

For example:-

Why is it important for you to change your job?

Why will losing weight be good for you?

Why do you want to achieve this goal?

This time the why question is reaffirming the positive intention or motivation behind an action. It gives people the chance to remind themselves the reasons they are giving themselves this extra bit of work to do.

Asking why for a justification will put up barriers and cause the person to become defensive and clam up. Asking why as a way to discover motivational reasoning will encourage the person to look a little deeper and discover what is really important to them.

So next time you find yourself posing the question “Why….?” take a moment to check whether you are asking for justification or motivational reasoning, as you will get significantly different results.

It could be that point in the rollercoaster ride where we are faced with a journey that looks entirely up-hill.

Are you really being lazy? Could it be that you are just progressing towards your goal REALLY slowly? Have you overlooked what you’ve actually completed? Or even worse, are you actually moving in the opposite direction (away from what you want)?

Join Paul & Sam as they explore how to tell which direction you’re facing, whether you’re moving or not, and some ways that you can start to measure & track your progress so that you are always clear on the action that is needed.

Make connections

So what is rapport?
A dictionary definition describes it as relation; connection, esp. harmonious or sympathetic relation. It’s all about communicating effectively in your life, to strengthen your connection with people and ensure you are understood. And it has its roots in the French verb, rapporter, to bring back. It’s a give and take scenario here. Successful communication is equally important between family, friends, lovers, and work colleagues. Personal development expert, Tony Robbins asks: “Is it more important to be right, or more important to be in love with someone?” Good question!

It’s your choice: win friends and influence people? (Dale Carnegie’s seminal book, originally written for sales people in 1937 is still a best seller) or in the case of journalist Toby Young: lose friends and alienate people [great book/hilarious movie].

When younger, I made little effort to maintain rapport with people who rubbed me up the wrong way. But in hindsight and some age-gathered wisdom, I now see that these people were generally just mirroring aspects of myself I hadn’t integrated or were still completely unaware of. These ‘pain in the butt’ folks were actually my greatest teachers – or would have been if I hadn’t exited sharply stage left. Today, I’m happy to say I rarely dismiss new contacts out of hand, and instead take time to find out what makes them tick. To imagine the world from their view and stand in their shoes for a while. Not easy, but a whole lot smoother on the nervous system than outright condemnation and disregard.

I’ll admit to only just having read Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People  and will also admit to being blown away by its contents. Despite its much-maligned title, Mr C’s message is as applicable today as it was in the Thirties. And you don’t have to be in sales to benefit. This book has made me sit up and think so profoundly that I’m going to repeat 10 of his building blocks of successful rapport right here:

Don’t criticise, condemn or complain.
Give honest and sincere appreciation. Become genuinely interested in other people.
Smile.
Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound, in any language.
Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
Make the other person feel important. And do it sincerely.
Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong”
If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
Let the other person save face.

By applying even a few of these each week since reading the book, I’ve noticed a profound change in my relationships with others. Most noticeably is that I’ve become infinitely more interested in other people. Not just people who are like me. But everyone I meet! Every human being you are likely to encounter in life will have an incredible story to tell. And is always worth listening to.

Here are my own tips for creating better rapport:

1.    Make eye contact. And hold it for longer (without staring!)
2.    Make your body language open. Uncross your arms, uncover your heart and turn to face the person you are talking to. This encourages openness and trust.
3.    Show that you’ve been listening by asking appropriate questions. Sincerely. Most people spend 95% of their time thinking about themselves. They love it when you show genuine interest in what you’re doing.
4.    Find common ground from the beginning of the conversation. Generally, people like people who are like themselves.
5.    Listen for verbal thinking preference clues. Is the person you are talking to visual (I see what you’re saying), Aural (I hear you), Kinaesthetic (How do you feel about?).
6.    Step into the other person’s shoes and imagine life from their viewpoint. Not a single person on the planet has exactly the perspective on life. Yet we often imagine other people see things exactly the way we do. Wrong!
7. Match your tone, pace, volume and inflection – without it being obvious – to the person with whom you’re talking. I’m not talking about mimicry here, rather a subtle shift in the way you communicate.

The above points are easy to practice – and you’ll be amazed at the results. Happy connecting!

Photo: www.persuasive.net

Ignorance is not bliss. In fact, it tends to make life hell.
As we learn, we are likely to move through 4 stages of competence – rarely jumping from Unconscious Incompetence (ignorance!) directly to Unconscious Competence (mastery!). Along the way, we pass through Conscious Incompetence (aware but struggling), and hopefully into Conscious Competence (aware and succeeding).

Join Paul and Sam as they explore how their actions (no matter how imperfect/perfect, small/large) move them through the challenge of overwhelm and unresourcefulness, and into more aware states of learning, choice and empowerment; where things aren’t all rosy but are a darn sight less ugly!

Tell us why you love this podcast by leaving a comment below (before 15th May), and you’ll automatically be entered into our milestone 5,000th motivational download celebration draw! Click here for more details, or simply add your comment below NOW!

Sometimes it feels like we’re swinging from one extreme to the other – one moment careening towards a crash, and a moment later, struggling up the mountain without a clear view of when (or if) we’ll reach the top.

Life can feel like a rollercoaster ride of heady peaks and stomach-churning troughs, and whilst we would all be terribly bored if it was just a flat track to the horizon… wouldn’t it be great if we could learn to balance out those pendulum-swings just a little? Even-it-up a bit so that it flowed more smoothly, and we could actually start to enjoy the ride?

Sam joins Paul on his train-journey of discovery into how we can keep the momentum and motivation flowing when we need it most!

We’ve just had our 5,000th motivational podcast download and are celebrating by giving away 4 free telephone coaching sessions. All you have to do is post a comment on our site (Comment on this post!) before 15 May and you may be the lucky winner. Click here for more details and leave a comment to win. Take that action now!

1. Congratulate yourself on real progress that may have gone unnoticed
2. Make course corrections if needed
3. Learn from previous attempts to improve

However, often we don’t go into much detail on how much and how often this kind of tracking should be carried out. If you join any weight loss club they generally tell you DO NOT weigh yourself every day! So let’s just think about that for a minute. Your goal is reduce your weight so how can it be a bad thing to check every day how you are doing? Well the idea is that unless you check your weight at the exact same time each day after consuming the exact same amount of food and water your weight can fluctuate by several pounds / kilos. Personally during my own journey of losing 2 stone (28lbs / 12kg) I did at first check my progress every day. Even though I knew I wasn’t meant to I still was interested in the progress. The really interesting part was:-

1. They’re absolutely right! Your weight does fluctuate hourly and daily! I found that even just having a large cup of coffee would make a difference on the scale.
2. Wednesdays were the BEST day for me to check my weight! I guess this was because I’d burnt off the few extra calories from the weekend.
3. Once I’d learned how my body weight raised and lowered during the week I was able to directly correlate that to how the previous days meals affected me. This resulted me in being much more careful about the add on options I was using. For example if I added extra salt to my meal my body would retain more water for the next day or so.

So once I had tracked progress on a daily basis, I had given myself the confidence that I knew what I was doing by eating certain thing and the consequences of them. Now I Under Track, I only weigh myself once a week, if that. I still track it but not to the intensity I had to when I first started. This really worked for me as I hit my target weight and have been able to keep it at that give or take 4-5lbs (2kg)

If you have a goal that is something completely new to you, then you might find that Over Tracking your progress is a great way to start. This Over Tracking will give you a lot of data to work on, however the draw back is it can make your progress appear to be painfully slow. Don’t let it de-motivate you if you are not progressing as FAST as you think you should be! Use this time as simply a learning curve or a training session and not the time that you should expect to progress in leaps and bounds. Once you have built up a pattern of what works well for you and what are the pit falls are that you need to avoid then you’ll be able to reduce your focus on tracking the progress an simply enjoy the smug feeling that you know what you are doing because it works for you.

So my question to you is “What are you currently Over Tracking that you should be Under Tracking and of course the other way round too?”

Fear not, my friend. There is a better strategy to find that motivation, and more precisely, to discover your ultimate motivation.

There are four dimensions to motivation as illustrated in the graphic on the right. Let me explain.

4 dimensions of motivation

External motivation comes from things or people outside of you, such as your family, your boss, and the economy. Are you going through med school because your parents want you to be a doctor? Are you motivated to save money because there is a recession?

Internal motivation comes from within you, when you are inspired to do what you want to do and go after things that are important to you. You exercise because it makes you feel healthy and vibrant, you apply for that job because you like the challenge and growth opportunities.

Push motivation is often doing things because you have to, and if you don’t you’re likely to feel some sort of pain. You stop smoking because your doctor says you’re lungs will stop working, you work extra hours because your boss needs that report done. It’s as if someone (likely yourself) is pushing you from behind. Think of your daily To-Do list! Most of that is likely a ‘push’ to get stuff done.

Pull motivation is usually from doing things because you not only want to but also because you are inspired to. You are literally pulled into that compelling future, like a magnet drawing you towards a really exciting experience, result or achievement. Think about your bigger aspirations like having a beautiful family life, or traveling to new countries to explore and learn about different cultures.

Ok, I get it Chris, so what’s the secret for my ultimate motivation?! (I hear you say…)

Well, we all are influenced by those four dimensions but genuine, heartfelt, from-the-gut, powerful, inspirational, and lasting motivation will always come from the Internal-Pull quadrant of motivation. When you can generate a vision for what you want in your future – be it related to your health, relationships, financial, career, spirituality, or any big or small aspect of your life – you will find motivation to take action comes swiftly and effortlessly. And THAT is the Ultimate Motivation. The other quadrants will happen as a fact of life. But if you want to grab hold of your life and create the life you’ve always wanted, you have to focus on the Internal-Pull type of motivation with a compelling vision and plan, and stop waiting for someone else to poke you into action.

Ok, I get it Chris, sounds exciting! But how do I do that?! (I hope you say…)

You don’t have to DO anything differently, you just need to THINK differently about the situation. Ask yourself these simple questions and through those answers you can uncover a deeper, more meaningful, longer lasting and inspiring motivation to keep you marching forward towards your dreams.

• What good feelings, outcomes, results will I gain from this situation/experience?
• What bad feelings, thoughts, outcomes will I eliminate from this situation/experience and what will benefits will that bring to my life?

Write down your answers (don’t just think them). Read them out loud daily with full emotion and passion and soon you’ll find you are automatically taking the actions you need to stay on track and inspired.

Leave us a comment and let us know how this works for you.

Tell your friends on Twitter that you listened

I want to have more …?

I’d love to be more ….?

What can I do to make my life …?

Almost in the words of Janet Jackson.

“What have you done for YOU lately?”

Or more accurately, what have you done lately that has been a positive step to move you in the direction of your goal?

I want to be a writer / What have you written lately?

I want to be my own boss / What steps have you taken lately?

I want to be more confident / What things have you done to expand your comfort zone lately?

One of the first things a coach will ask you when you tell them what you want out of life is what have you already done about it lately?

What would you tell your coach?

Gina and Paul talk about the action steps you can take to triumph!

I have done this before and wanted to start doing it again. This morning however, I was really struggling to get dressed, ready and out the door. I was really close to saying to myself that it was OK and that I could go later. That’s when it hit me….

Why bother? Why am I bothering to drag my tired body off the the gym?
Answer: Because one of my goals is to get fitter, a LOT fitter.

It didn’t end the internal conversation though, which surprised me a bit, so I went with it.

Why bother? My little internal voice was repetitive but clearly unimpressed with my first answer. So I began to list of the reasons, no matter how small, why I wanted to get fitter:-

1. Real health history, my mother died at 45 from a heart attack. My father has vascular dementia at 72 and is confined to a wheel chair. I have a sleeping disorder called Sleep Apnoea, which basically means I stop breathing when I’m asleep. So I have to use a CPAP (in basic terms a breathing machine) to allow me to sleep properly at night. If going to the gym will help me long a better quality of life for longer then that is a huge reason to go to the gym this morning.
2. I’ll be 40 in two years time. I’m not getting any younger or any prettier for that matter! So if I can help myself feel and look a little younger by having a good fit body then hitting the big 4-0 won’t seem such a big deal.
3. I’m a life coach. I love to help people achieve what they dream about and help them find the motivation to do so. So if I can’t motivate myself to go to the gym this morning how can I expect my clients to?
4. Once I’m at the gym, within just a few minutes I’ll start to feel the endorphins working. I’ll feel uplifted and be able to carry that energy throughout the rest of my day.
5. Because I do enjoy it. I like learning new things and working out a routine for myself plays on my desire to do things right, but to do things my way.

Why……..? My inner voice fell silent.

As a coach I was trained NOT to ask a question starting with Why? Which for 99% of the time is true. WHY? Because….. to answer a why question the client jumps straight to “because” and begins to justify themselves. This can stop people looking deeper to find out what is really driving them.

On this occasion, my subconscious was using it correctly though. I needed to spend some time justifying why I was bothering to drag my tired body to the gym.

I went to the gym this morning.

I enjoyed it.

Paul and Sam talk about how this helps them look at things from a new perspective, sharing tips and tricks on how you can bring this resourcefulness into your daily life.

Once you can tap into the Power of Now, you’ll be able to take control of your life.

Paul and Sam face some home truths and admit their failings and what they are going to do to turn things around.

In this podcast we ask the question…..

What is it that you know you should be doing but for one reason or another, you just aren’t doing it!?

We’d really love to hear from you so why not post a comment below and tell us what that thing is! If you are really brave you can tell us what you are going to do about it.

Rather than struggle to the point of frustration and disappointment, become more aware of the type of motivation you are seeking. Clarity always leads to power and once you get clear on what it is you want, and why you want it you’ll be able to generate the deep internal drive to propel you to success.

In this Action Podcast, Paul and Chris discuss how to find your motivation, and how to keep it to ensure you get the results you want.

Having this kind of past experience can really put a downer on your mood and even worse, start to bring down the loved ones around you.

Now is the chance you have been waiting for to start having the Christmas and New Year celebrations you may feel you’ve been missing out on.

Start thinking about all the things you can do at this festive time of year that you wouldn’t normally set time aside for.

For example, here in London we have a lot of shows to see all year round. So a couple of years ago I treated my partner to an evening at the ballet. It was something we had never enjoyed together before, but it was a wonderful experience and such a pleasure to watch. Now each year we start looking at the shows that are on and get excited about booking up our festive tradition.

Now, we have something festive to look forward to that we both love and can share together.

So think about what you could do that you’d enjoy. Something that could become part of a festive tradition for your nearest and dearest.