Surprisingly, research tells us that the best way to motivate yourself to exercise is not to imagine how good you’ll feel after, but to imagine how much you would regret NOT doing it.
Turns out, we’re more motivated by the desire to avoid a negative mindset than the desire to achieve a positive mindset. Makes sense really, for many people the motivation to lose weight is not that they want to be a healthy weight, it’s that they don’t want to be overweight.
Harness the power of avoidance. Next time you don’t feel like exercising, think about how crap you’ll feel if you don’t. As much as you’ll feel great after and be glad you did it, it’s the avoidance of regret that makes the biggest difference.
Sourced from: ’59 Seconds’, Professor Richard Wiseman. Pan Publishing, 2010.
