How to Find and Captivate Your Own Motivation Superpowers!
Ever thought to yourself - WHY CAN’T I JUST!
This is for you - If you ever:
Signed up for the gym but only ended up doing 1 session, or worse no session at all.
Felt like you got stuck in the forever researching before starting something new, and then gotten confused with all the possibilities and options so you got stuck and parked it away again.
Felt like you despite really wanting to workout can’t seem to get it done.
Did a workout just because it was planned despite feeling like a drained cloth.
Then maybe, you are coming at your project with a strategy that is not suited for YOU.
And you could be getting WAY BETTER RESULTS by doing some "Out Of The Gym Home Work"
- before signing up for the next thing.
After reading this 10 min post, you will have a bit more awareness of yourself, your strengths and weaknesses - and you can use that information to "Lifestyle Hack For Yourself" setting goals or creating support systems you need to be successful!
Different Strokes, For Different Folks
When I started in the fitness and health business over 10 years ago, I had NO CLUE that people where different in their approach to being asked to do something.
I thought everyone was just like me. And thought everyone just needed to make a plan or receive a plan and then execute until they are done. Turns out it really really really doesn’t work that way. Like scientifically less than 1 out of 100 can do that. So if you ever found yourself on the receiving end of not being able to follow through with a plan…. keep reading….
I really didn't understand that some people functioned better with someone supervising them, that some people had the need to ask loads of questions and I definitely did not understand the people who resisted what I advised them and continued to do exactly what hurt them or wasn't working for them.
Turns Out we are tremendously different as humans, and what works for one person - does not work for the next one. Some of us need guidance, others need support, others need to have their questions answered and some just need a plan and then there are some freaks that get going and don’t stop until they are done.
What TYPE are you?
I was listening to a TED talk, when the penny really dropped. It was a lecture with Gretchen Rubin, who now has become my hero. She is a social researcher that has created a framework to explain people’s response to internal expectations and external expectations. And this framework can help you understand the difference between WANTING to do a task for YOURSELF or SOMEONE else WANTING YOU to do a task.
It has proven to make me a better coach and been super helpful to others along the way, and to help design the support systems needed for others to be successful.
You Can Try It At HOME: Take The QUIZ NOW
How you can use the 4 tendencies to guide you
Now that you have taken the Quiz, you will have most answers within one category that places you in one of the 4 Tendencies as a Obliger, Upholder, Questionaire or Rebel.
I like to view the tendencies in a positive way, and I think each one has their own unique super powers, and like all super powers - it can also be their curse if not activated in the right way!
You can read more about each one on Gretchen Rubin’s site, in this post I am just going to explain how I have used the knowledge of people’s tendencies to help them be successful with their training and eating habits.
- just know you can use this knowledge to almost all aspects of life.
How to Captivate your Superpowers.
- and not spend all your energy on fighting against them.
Obligers must find a way to create ACCOUNTABILITY SYSTEMS that work for you. As you probably know you have way less issues showing up when someone is waiting for you and/or expects you to do something. And you can use this to your advantage.
There are many different types of accountability systems that work for different people. I have put together a few that could fit your personality and budget.
Signing up for Gym Classes: just knowing a coach expects and awaits you can be enough
Joining a gym with a Community: Crossfit gyms, and many smaller gyms have this VIBE where everyone knows your name kinda thing. So instead of signing up for a gym where people walk around with headphones and don´t say hi, maybe try a class in one of the smaller once or give crossfit a go.
Making a date with a gym buddy: Signing up for a class with a friend or doing a workout with mates on regular basis.
Personal Training or small group training: Working 1:1 with a coach that knows you and is expecting you.
Agreement/Contract with a friend or loved one. Asking your spouse to check in if you did your workout, ate your meals. Reporting back your results can work for many.
Financial penalties for missed workouts: Some find that having their coach charge them 2x session if they NOSHOW or paying the kids entertainment fun a significant amount helps them stay consistent.
Swapping shoes with a gym buddy: Extreme one, but swapping shoes - leaving each session with one of your workout buddies shoe, and giving them one of yours. So you HAVE TO SHOW UP for next time.
Upholder: We (this is my tendency) face some different challenges than Obligers. And as a group, us Upholders tend to stick to a plan a little bit too much sometimes. And often need some help to make sure their plan is REALISTIC, Achievable and not to Extreme!
Upholders are the people that show up for workouts when exhausted, sick and tired, because it was planned. And have a hard time not counting their macros or eating something they don´t know what contains - since they are fully committed to a plan. So they often need help to identify if they are doing the right things, when they are doing to much and when they need to take time off.
I find that Upholders benefit from developing systems of questions of "If this then that" to not drive themselves into the ground. And often they find helpful to have a sparring partner, friend, coach someone they respect to ask them these questions and bring them back to reality :)
Questionare´s: Are amazing, they really good at doing research - and eventually actually doing things, once they have had all their doubts set to the side. But they need to have found all the answers they are seeking, before being able to take actions. Downside is they often end up researching and getting paralized by analaziz and sometimes changing directions 100.000 times and do not follow one path long enough to see any results!
Helpful strategies that I have seen are:
Deadline of how long you can research a topic: Making a deadline of when you are going to START.
Running mini science projects on themselves: Can help you to commit to TRY the chosen method, and trust in the process (while tracking loads of data of course)
Having a trusted resource or person: Using a online resource like a blog, person, Trainer, a method or tested protocol to guide you. All though difficult, leaning in and trusting that someone else has done the research for you and putting all your faith in this person / resource.
Rebel´s probably already knew they were rebels before they took the test, I find them SUPER intriguing and exciting to work with. They can be tricky to work with as a coach, and sadly they are often pretty tired of themselves. Like why CAN’T I JUST tends to come up a lot. Most rebels I have seen get great results once they learn how to captivate their rebellious nature and make whatever they are doing ATTRACTIVE, OPTIONAL and FUN.
So if you belong to this group forget about rigid progressions and training programs, and try something like ClassPass, drop in memberships and aim for combinations of attending variety of classes and working out on your own terms.
You may benefit from having a coach or buddy along the way, to give you options and boost you every now and then. This person kinda needs to challenge you and remind you that they are fitter than you, and that sky’s the limit to keep you going
- in like an optional way.
Bottom Line
This knowledge about the different tendencies has be LIFE CHANGING for me as a coach to better understand how I can help and support people, now I know who I should offer personal training sessions (the Obligers) and who just need an occasional 1:1 zoom session to discuss new options and varieties (Rebels).
And it also taught me not to get offended or threatened when people ask me loads of questions. MAN was I scared of questionnaires when I started coaching. I thought they were questioning me. Now I have a little internal giggle every time I meet one, and do my best to make sure they get all the answers they need before starting TRAINING.
I hope you find this useful, and recommend you spend an hour of your time looking through these strategies and create your own tactics on how to harness your superpower to help you!
I guarantee you it’s going to save you a world of disappointment and frustrations.
If you need an accountability partner, sparring partner or a trusted person to answer your questions you can check out my options for Remote Coaching. It was designed to suit each tendencies need for support as much as I can!
