What's My Motivation?

I'm so very drawn to the topic of athleticism... actually the science behind it. With the Olympics coming up next week, I find myself glued to the various reports on the Olympians' training schedules, their psychology and their character. One of the many traits that these champions share is high intrinsic motivation.

There are two types of motivation. The first is extrinsic motivation. This motivation consists of a drive to lessen pain or discomfort. A great example of extrinsic motivation would be hunger. One is motivated to eat because of hunger or eating for comfort when stress levels are high. Another great example would be NOT exercising. The motivation to not move because exercise is awkward, uncomfortable or painful. This type of motivation only serves the "now" with no thought about dream attainment or what the future will look like and is actually rooted in negativity with a focus to NOT feel something. Intrinsic motivation goes beyond that rooting itself in positivity.

Intrinsic motivation DOES look into the future and reaches beyond any type of pain and discomfort to fulfill dreams. It's focus is TO feel something instead of trying NOT to feel something. This motivation is the knowing that the happiness that lies down the road is worth, and will GREATLY exceed, any temporary pain or discomfort one may go through to make their dreams come true. This motivation is both spiritual and intellectual, and when perfected, halts the gravity of any extrinsic forces because it knows the ultimate destination is happiness and accomplishment.

In my opinion, extrinsic motivation requires the least amount of effort and is quite superficial (more of a reactive/primitive/bottom-of-the-food-chain behavior) while intrinsic motivation breeds excellence. It has been a great help for me to understand the driving forces behind why I do what I do or why I don't. From moment to moment when reaching for my goals, I can analyze my actions with two simple questions: 1) Is this activity moving me closer or further from my goals AND 2) What is my motivation here? I LOVE that last question!!! It is commonly parodied with actors when "reaching" for a character to emerge, but now I see that it's actually a REAL process and one that I'm going to work harder to employ.

Beyond the TEMPORARY awkwardness, discomfort or pain lies whoever you want to be. And once you're a champion.... the gold is yours forever! What's your motivation?

Correction: The Olympics start THIS WEEK!!! OMGosh! So sorry everyone!!! Apparently I'm still in last week! YIKES!

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Past 7 Days....

Healthy Pizza

Welp... I'm on vacation. I alotted 3 days to be bad and eat whatever I want. Boy did I ever! Yuck! I feel nasty, and bloated and just generally "out of whack"! So today will be a light eating day. Oh how I wish I would have just gotten the supplies I needed to do The Master Cleanse ... Damage control: Healthy Pizza (it's what's for dinner! LOL!) 2 cloves garlic 1/4 C. of olive oil Blend until smooth in the Magic Bullet. Expect to have some left over to store for future pizzas. 2 Mission Carb Balance tortilla shells (I use 2 small, but you can use 1 large) Thinly sliced mushrooms Thinly chopped bell peppers (all colors) Diced onion Thinly sliced zucchini Diced Cabbage (any color) Non Fat Mozorella cheese Any other vegetable that you prefer sliced thin... make sure not to use veggies that are too wet, as that will keep the tortilla from crisping. And be sure that you don't overload the tortilla, or you might have a hard time picking it up to eat... remember... ...

Velcome To The Little Hop of HORRORS!!!

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! So I tried to make the title sound really spooky and ran out of room to include my evil laugh... hahaha! WELCOME HOPPERS! Are you thoroughly spooked and amazed? I know I am! You already know that today is the start of our Halloween celebration with a blog hop organized by my good friend Nicole of Canadian Nickel Scrap'n . If you're currently hopping, you should be arriving here from the Fabulous Eulanda's blog ... wasn't that Caramel Corn Box AWESOME?!? If you haven't arrived from Eulanda's blog and are just now joining us, hop to the bottom of this post for details on how the blog hop works. And now for my scary good fun before you head over to Gloria's blog on the next stop of this hop. Today I've got the "Welcome" sign that I will be hanging in my foyer this Halloween. I used my Simple Frame Gypsy cut file as well as the pumpkins and faces from the Pumpkin Carvings Seasonal Cricut Cartridge (just like the one I will be g...

Maple Syrup vs. Honey

I did a post a while back about the nutritious sweetener for the lemonade on the Master Cleanse: maple syrup ! In fact, for quite some time now it has been my only sweetner (well, that and agave nectar... YUM!). But why maple syrup... isn't honey the magical sweetener? First, let's consider where both come from. One comes from a tree and the other comes from flowers, but is predigested and then regurgitated by a bee. Can you guess which is which??? hahahaha ! Really though, just the idea that an insect's already digested nectar from a flower lends to the idea that the nectar is already devoid of nutrients when it's vomited back up. Isn't that the whole point of digestion? To pull the nutrients from whatever it is you have ingested. So is it safe to say that honey is a bi product ? Or even a waste material? I would certainly call MY vomit a waste material... what about you? But beyond the gross visual I now have in my head of honey, I also have a real concern about ...

Fun and Mental Changes

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