The last couple of years have been doozies! For many of us the stress of our everyday lives and “new normal” have left little room to feel motivated to train or progress in our goals.
But 2022, ready or not! Here we come! Take a look at some of these motivational hacks to help you reach your goals this year!
Ready or Not, Here We Come!
Shake Off 2021 and Get Motivated with These Helpful Hacks
A lack of motivation is generally temporary. Taking some kind of action though will pull you out of that funk much sooner than taking no action at all. Remember, you didn’t come this far to only come this far! Unlike the last couple of years, let’s make 2022 a year to remember!
1. Early, Often and Ongoing: Declare your goals and assess your progress on a regular basis. Daily, not Monthly! Whether you trained or not, jot down notes about your training goals and where you are on the path of reaching them. Studies have shown that the connection to your brain is stronger when you write something with pen and paper as opposed to typing it out. Doing it daily, whether you actually get out and train or stay on the couch all day, will keep your goals fresh in your mind.
2. Energy Flows Where Attention Goes: Visualize yourself training! It may sound silly, but just thinking about training will actually create the energy you need to get up and go do it! The more you think about training, the more likely a “thought spark” will ignite into action!
3. Make an Appointment: And keep it! Schedule your training for same time every day. Tell yourself that the most important meeting of the day is the one with your dog. And if you cancel it they will be super disappointed. No one wants to disappoint their dog!
4. Trick Yourself: Try not to train! If just the thought of training brings you down, do something with your dog that isn’t training! Play with your dog! Massage your dog! Make silly faces at your dog to see what kind of reaction you get! Often these kinds of interactions will lead to one or two quick reps of a trick or prompt you to think of something you want to train.
Still not feeling it? There’s lots more hacks you can do.
5. Make it a Group Effort: Build on the support of others. Seek out others that are working on the same thing and keep each other apprised of how you’re doing. An added bonus is that the help you provide to others will keep you motivated, too!
6. Make It a Contest: Contests are fun! Everyone wants to participate! Have a weekly or monthly contest with those working toward the same goals. Each person that participates takes a turn providing a token prize to the winner.
7. Seek Out Motivational Quotes and Sayings: Yep another silly one! But hey! Sometimes we just need those positive vibes! Find one (or more!) that you like and use it as a mantra when you need that extra boost!
8. Celebrate the Wins: You trained today? Woohoo! Something as small as a chart where you put a gold sticker or as elaborate as booking a massage! Make sure you reward yourself for good effort!
9. Broaden Your Horizons: Take a class, seminar or buy a new training book! Check out a behavior you’d like to train on YouTube or in one of the RFE Spotlight Groups where members post their qualifying routines and Rally-FrEe runs. Maybe pick something you never thought you could train and write out a possible training plan!
10. Let Go of “Fear of Failure:” Embrace “Progress not Perfection!” Many of us can become paralyzed by our fear of not meeting our own or other’s expectations. What’s the worst that can happen if you don’t meet that expectation? You are, at the very least, farther along than you were than before you tried.
