\u201cAtomic Habits,\u201d<\/a> he questions how some people are very good at building and sticking to their habits, while others struggle to stay motivated. How do we design habits that pull us in rather than ones that fade away? Studies have shown that the best way to maintain motivation is to work on tasks of \u201cjust manageable difficulty.\u201d<\/p>\nThe human brain loves a challenge, but only within optimal levels of difficulty. For example, let\u2019s say you love tennis. If you try to play a tennis match against a five-year-old, you obviously wouldn\u2019t be challenged enough and would quickly become bored. You\u2019d easily win. However, if you were to try playing against a professional like Serena Willians, you would very quickly lose motivation to continue playing since you would be severely outmatched.<\/p>\n
You would need to find a tennis partner that is around your level, maybe just slightly better. Against this person, you might win a few points, and you might lose a few. You have a good chance at winning, but you still have to put in a good amount of effort. This is what we mean by \u201cjust manageable difficulty,\u201d and this is an excellent example of The Goldilocks Rule.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cGoldilocks Rule\u201d was derived from the children\u2019s tale \u201cGoldilocks and the Three Bears,\u201d where Goldilocks goes through items that are too hot, too cold, too big, too small, until she finds one that is \u201cjust right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.<\/p>\n
In other words: if you take on new tasks that are too easy or too hard, that\u2019s when motivation, focus, and consistency fall apart.<\/p>\n
Finding What’s “Just Right” For You<\/h3>\n
If you haven\u2019t exercised in a while, and you decide you want to start getting back into shape. You\u2019re feeling super motivated and excited. So you decide to do a 5-day high-intensity fitness program designed for 12 weeks.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the problem: Going from zero workouts to 5 days per week is too big of a jump for entry level. The likelihood of success is low. You may initially be able to maintain the schedule for a week or two, but you\u2019ll eventually burn out and become unmotivated. The amount of unfamiliar work and stress you\u2019ll put on your body is not practical or realistic.<\/p>\n
When motivation is high, you believe you can do anything, and you\u2019re excited by the prospects of the final outcome. So you dive head-first into a plan that may be overwhelming for you. However, in order to truly achieve your goals requires creating a path that makes it realistic and likely for you to succeed.<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t take the time to consider your fitness path, the desired results won\u2019t follow. Map out your starting point by figuring out your baseline. This means taking into consideration your current fitness level in order to determine the volume of work\u2013like how many workouts per week and minutes per day\u2013you can comfortably maintain while still being challenged.<\/p>\n
The best results come from implementing small changes over and over again without stress or overexertion. If you\u2019re trying to get back into fitness and actually see results, consistency is key. Even if you think you\u2019re not doing much or going too slow, you\u2019re making a difference and working toward your goal.<\/p>\n
A personal trainer can provide guidance on helping you find your \u201cGoldilocks\u201d fitness plan, and also help keep you motivated and accountable. When you first meet with a trainer, they\u2019ll assess your current fitness level, ascertain your desired fitness goals, and customize a fitness plan that reasonably carves a realistic path toward your goals.<\/p>\n
Find a location near you to get in touch with one of our certified personal trainers, and discover a workout plan that\u2019s \u201cjust right\u201d for you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What can a children\u2019s story teach you about fitness motivation? We all know that physical activity promotes good health. It’s staying motivated to keep up the physical activity that we struggle with. You may think your inability to stick with a fitness plan is because of lack of motivation, lack of willpower, or even laziness. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justyoufitness.com\/canebay\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}