When in doubt Attack
Winter is setting in and many who return from a hard days work and settle into their warm lounge, can find it hard to get up and head out into the dark, to get their dose of training. Most people feel like this at some time or other so if it’s you, don’t despair, it’s just a primal instinct that man had been slave to for hundreds of thousands of years. It¹s dark and I shouldn¹t be out there!
But, to offer some sage advice my uncle used to give me, “when in doubt attack!” So don’t let a little darkness and chilly weather get in the way of you getting what you want. Get moving on those tough nights and you will have an outcome that is in line with your goals.
There are times when we all need a little motivation and it is useful to understand that we can be motivated in basically two ways: there is AWAY-FROM motivation and then there is the TOWARD type of motivation. Both are equally powerful.
The AWAY-FROM type stems from our basic desire to remove ourselves from danger or harm. In other words, we want to get moving because we don’t like the look of the alternative if we do not get moving. Eg: move away from obesity, ignorance, laziness, poverty, etc.
The TOWARD type appears as almost the exact opposite picture in our mind and is reflected in our desire to move forward and nearer to that which we want Eg: athleticism, knowledge, active, wealth, etc. Although this may on the surface, seem a more positive kind of motivation, it is, not necessarily the more powerful of the two. Anyone who has been starving and homeless at one time, may be extremely motivated to never go back and re-live that experience again. One of the problems though, with this style of motivation, is that once you achieve a little success, you may begin to feel comfortable and the motivating forces become diminished. Eg: A starving man who lives under a bridge, may become content with one meal a day, living in a caravan; and may no longer see or feel a need to better his life circumstances.
On the other hand, when we use the TOWARD style of motivation, we can taste and feel our success more powerfully as we make headway toward the type of life we want to live. To get the most out of this style of motivation though, it is absolutely necessary that you get a clear picture of what you want to achieve. You need to see it, taste it, smell it, feel it and hear what it would be like when you achieve these goals.
Personally, I use both styles of motivation in my life. There are things I want to move away from and never, ever go back to; there are other things I want to move toward and to have in my life. So if and when the winter blues hit remember, the days will start getting longer very shortly a couple more months of training and it will be spring and you will have moved further from that which you don¹t like and closer to that which you desire and deserve.
See you on the mat,
John Will
A selection of articles written by John Will.
For more of John’s writing please see his site Rogue Black Belt
