I suffered a massive void in motivation for my last
fight, and I’ve decided to investigate.
After extensive research, with the help of Wikipedia, turns out that there
are a lot of studies that explain why we make certain choices. Eating is motivation to most, as is love,
stability etc. However there doesn’t
seem to be an explanation as to why I would prefer to look at the same
facebook news feed ten times than go do my cardio. Or why, even when I started a workout with my
husband, I would also start an argument that was sure to end it. I did all this knowing I would not be my best
and I was fighting a dangerous opponent.
I had to look deeper.
I had a lot of emotional lows in the two months leading up to that
fight. I lost my grandma, my ailing car
finally died on me, I got a pretty serious injury at work, my claim got denied,
and that’s just the worst of it. This shouldn't have made any difference, in that I usually take motivation from life’s
curveballs. The gym is my outlet for
this kind of stuff, and having a fight is just fuel for the fire. My commitment to my goal, to my
opponent, and my training partners was enough to force me into
the gym, but I didn't want to be there. Fear of a bad fight wasn’t even
motivation.
In conclusion, I, Katie Casimir, world’s greatest amateur
psychologist, don’t have any idea what happened or how to prevent it. I have discovered some interesting thoughts
though.
First, if motivation was easy, then success would come down
to things beyond our control. Things
like cultural standards of beauty, natural talent, size, and charisma. There would be no room at the top for the guy
who had the odds stacked against him and just never gave up.
Second, at some point, for some reason, we will all have
periods in our life when it seems impossible to get off the couch. What saved me was my amazing husband (and
coach), who loves me enough to make a training/fight plan around where I was
emotionally… even if he didn’t understand it.
The plan almost worked and I came away with a feeling of success even if
I didn’t win. I have an amazing network
of support in my family and friends and a promise to an eight-year-old little girl that I plan on keeping.
 |
| My 1st round kneebar that I didn't quite finish |
So maybe motivation is this simple: Have goals, and good
reasons for them. Keep close the people
who believe in you and your goals. Keep everyone else at a safe distance. Be ready to work hard. When you don’t feel
like it and life gets ugly, lower your shoulder and keep working. This will be your success regardless of the
outcome.
Motivation is more than a feeling. It's a deeper desire to push through whatever is in between you and your objective... even if it's you.
No comments :
Post a Comment