The desire to make changes toward better health is always well intentioned, but to create lasting change, motivation must come from within, rather than an external source.

1. Get Psyched!
Find Out What Motivates You
and Take Your Health to
New Heights
Diane Raymond
Blue Sky Gym
DiRaymond.com/wp

2. Intrinsic Motivation

3. What’s the difference?
External Motivation: Wanting to
lose weight before a wedding, or
beach vacation. Internal (Instrinsic)
Motivation comes from within, and is
driven partly by belief in yourself to
succeed, and that your goals and
actions will reinforce your reason for
changing. One example might be to
lose weight to avoid heart disease,
which runs in the family.

4. Find your Fire
• Intrinsic Motivation = Success
When you know what motivates you, it is easier to
set goals, gather support, find information in
relation to the change you are trying to make, and
stay focused.

5. 7 Factors that encourage
motivation
• Challenge
• Curiosity
• Control
• Imagination
• Competition
• Cooperation
• Recognition

6. If this is you…focus on a longer term
goal, rather than one with more
immediate gratification, such as a half-
marathon or a 3-day walking event for
charity.

7. Curiosity
Is your attention sparked when you hear a
co-worker is taking a new fitness class, or
has a fabulous new recipe for low-sugar
brownies?
Satisfy your curiosity with something new,
such as yoga, PiYo, Barre, Zumba,
IndoRow, SurfSet, outdoor bootcamp,
geocaching, etc.

8. Control
If you have a tendency to need to control
what happens to you, then you will be
motivated by activities, events or
situations that allow to you to be in
control.
• Try charting your progress with an App
like Meal Snap, Runkeeper, or a FitBit

9. Imagination
If you are stimulated by imagining situations or
events that haven’t actually happened yet,
then using mental images that reinforce what
you learn or want to become will motivate
you.
Try visualizing the outcome you want. Create
an image in your head of yourself
succeeding. How do you look? Feel?

10. Competition

11. If you often compare your
performance favorably to
others, you are driven by
competition.
Visit Konkura.com and sign up
for one of their many
challenges!

12. Cooperation
• The enjoyment of
helping others
succeed at their goals
is a hallmark of being
motivated by
cooperation.
• Look for activities
that involve
teamwork.

13. Recognition
• If you are motivated by
receiving credit for your
efforts, then seek
activities that reward
participants for hard
work or accomplishing
a goal.

14. Tips & Tricks to stay on track
• Set meaningful goals
• Try something new to stimulate your
curiousity
• If you are control-driven, focus on results
• Use visualization
• For competitive types, enter a 5K race or sign
up for a challenge

15. More Tips & Tricks…
• For cooperation-based motivation, joining a
team is beneficial, or simply joining a group
fitness class
• Recognition-based motivation is harder to
reward, so pick activities that have a duel
purpose, such as training for a charitable
event, like Team in Training or Relay for Life

16. Final thoughts
• You WILL have to get out of your comfort
zone to succeed. It WILL be OK. You WILL
be able to do it. You WILL look back on this
as the “fun” part.
• Don’t let bumps in the road lead to all or
nothing thinking. ALL activity counts!
• Keep trying new things. Keep challenging
yourself. Variety is the spice of life.
• Remember that the journey should be fun.
Find fun, and you’ll find success!
• Don’t give up! Not ever.

18. Diane Raymond
Owner, Blue Sky Gym
(614) 296-9529
DRaymond@BlueSkyGym.com
diraymond.com/wp blueskygym.com/blog
Copyright ©2008
Reproduction strictly prohibited
Updated February 10, 2012