Motivation vs. Inspiration in Daily Training

I did my first 5 am spin class with friends Michael and Coffee.  I can tell that this is only the beginning of early morning workouts and training sessions.  In January, I’m planning to start swimming with the Masters program at 5;30 am and as summer winds its way back around here in Las Vegas, it will be unavoidable to start my day earlier and earlier.  Veterans of summer training tell me their mornings begin at 4am. Wow.

This is where a little motivation needs to come in to play.  Bonnie and I have been meeting weekly to touch base on our progress and reaffirm our commitment to Silverman or Bust. During our meeting this week, we discussed the challenge of training by ourselves. Both of us experienced a distinct drop in motivation last week when we missed our regular meeting. And although we may “know” what needs to be done, it’s the getting it actually done that is often the greater challenge.

The inspiration is always there, but the motivation is sometimes a little lacking.  This is when Bonnie suggested that inspiration is what you feel from within and motivation is often an external force.  So, looking at this in terms of my own workouts, training with a friend, trainer or someone else creates the external motivation to inspire something within me push through hard workouts, to stay the course, to challenge my limits.  Although I can be our own motivating force, I recognize that this particular journey for me is more inspiring and enticing when enjoyed with the energy of others.

So, if you know that daily motivation for you may be a challenge while training for your long term goal, it’s important to set elements in place that will help drive success.  For me, this means that I need to work out  and train with friends, or at the very least, be accountable to someone on a weekly or daily basis with my training plan and goals. If your are training for something longer term – whether is a marathon, triathlon, athletic event or otherwise – I highly recommend finding someone on a weekly basis to account for your progress.

How do you set yourself up for success?  What are your motivating factors?  Share the conversation!