“Faith is taking the first
step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Martin Luther King
I often hear people say, “I know what to do, I just can’t find the motivation to do it.” These words hit home because I too have felt this way. I know what I need to do to lose weight, I know what to do to improve my health, I know what to do to grow my business and yet, I do nothing.
Whenever I find myself in this situation it forces me to consider why I feel unmotivated. I find myself questioning how badly I want what I say I want, I question my reasons for wanting it, and then I question what I might be afraid of and how this is impacting my lack of doing what needs to be done.
When I dig deep for answers, I find many different reasons for my lack of motivation but the worst one is laziness. Laziness is an excuse to stay in the comfort zone. The comfort zone is the place you tend to stay in instead of taking a little risk, facing the unknown, or assigning too much worry to what will happen if you don’t reach your goal.
The comfort zone is easy to stay in because you know where you are. It doesn’t require you to change or to become more than who you are now. You can continue to do the same things you are already doing because you have already accepted getting the same results. The comfort zone is where your growth and your results stagnate.
The only way to get out of the comfort zone is to decide to face what is holding you in it. Taking the first step may not feel easy, but it is a necessary one if you want to recover your motivation and get stuff done.
You must stop thinking “what if I fail?” You must stop worrying about making mistakes. Instead of focusing on what could go wrong you need to focus on what will go right. Start thinking “I can do this.” Accept that you may not do it perfectly, but that within the imperfection of doing it you will learn from your mistakes how to do it better going forward. Remember, taking no action will put you at risk for never knowing what you are truly capable of or the impact you can have in the world.
Imagine the kind of world you might live in if you never learned to take your first step as a child. Imagine explorers not taking the first steps to discover new worlds. Imagine living in a world where there were no courageous men and women to take the first step towards finding cures for disease, ways to address quality of life issues, or enact social change. Where would the you be if people like Dr. King had refused to take the first step to fight for the greater good of all people simply because the whole staircase could not first be seen?
The next time you find yourself feeling unmotivated dare to
take the first step out of your comfort zone and into the path of whatever is keeping
you stuck where you are. The first step may
feel hard, but I am confident that once you allow yourself to focus on where
you want to go the light at the end of the tunnel will illuminate your way.
Your partner in living FIT FIRST,
Jannette
Jannette La Sota
The Fitness Detective®