This is What Happens When You Dare to Dream...

We gave a homework assignment to our clients that we talked about in class today. Their assignment was to find a "goal body" picture and paste their head on it. The picture is meant to represent the physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual feelings that they are after. It is a way to dig deep into what that individual really wants and to help them put a finger on why they want it. 

What I heard in my classes over the course of the day was amazing. There were tears, laughter, and tons of support and encouragement from everyone involved. One thing that stood out to me was that every single picture and every single story was different. There may have been a couple elements that matched up, but the reasons and the emotions behind them were all unique. 

Here is just a sampling of the amazing stories that were shared:

-A female client shared a picture of a woman in modest workout gear saying yes to healthy foods. She joked that it was very hard to find a woman with enough clothing on with the search term "fit woman." Too true. She also had a picture of a woman in a bikini. To her the pictures represented her pursuing a healthy lifestyle. They also touched a deeper issue. Since she was 5 years old she had struggled with body image and had "weight issues" that continued later into her life. Much of it was based on what other people thought. The woman in the bikini represented her goal of being confident enough in herself to wear a bikini to the beach on vacation four months down the road. She's over forty years old and has never worn a bikini before. THAT is what motivation is all about!

-A man had his face on a picture of Mel Gibson from Road Warrior (one of my favorite oddball sci-fi movies). To him it represented being a survivor. In the movie, The Road Warrior exists in a post apocalyptic time period where humanity is at it's worst and it is a daily struggle to survive. This client is in excellent physical condition but he didn't have a goal to achieve something. His goal was stay away from something. He wanted to stay away from illness and disease. "I'm the only one in my family without some sort of debilitating health issue. I don't want that in my life." His emotional connection to his workouts and nutrition is strong. And it shows up in the intensity and discipline that he brings to it.

-A woman had a picture of an in shape woman doing a bodyweight squat. "This is very difficult for me. I struggle enough with my own body, so putting my face on someone else's body was hard." For her, the woman doing the squat represented a challenge she is facing right now. She is a couple of months into bootcamp and is working hard at improving her squat. She is finding that there are more muscle imbalances and weaknesses than she would like to have. For her, being in great shape and being able to do a perfect squat gets her FIRED UP!

-A man brought in a picture of himself from 2004. In it, he appears to be water skiing. son closer inspection, there are no skis! He's on top of the water barefoot behind a boat! He hasn't be able to do that in fourteen years. For him, that's a big motivator to help him lose weight. At the top of the picture, in bold, are the words: Natural High. For him, being on top of the water like that is like being on top of the world. 

Again, these are just a few examples that I mentioned from my classes. But... wow. I was inspired just listening to their stories and what they connected with. They found some fuel that they can use as they go forward.

Motivation isn't something that exists in a vacuum. Motivation comes from emotion. It comes from action. It comes from changing things up and doing something different. Motivation goes hand in hand with learning. You need all of these elements to progress to the beautiful future you see for yourself. If you've never done a project like this one, I'd highly recommend it. It will be worth every minute you put into it.

By doing this project our clients were able to focus on their beautiful future. There is so much ahead for them. By having an emotional connection to where they are headed it makes it easier to say "no" to the things that pull them away from that.