Place your bets
For me, I need to be motivated to do things. That goes for all things in life from mowing the lawn (I don't want another letter from the HOA) to writing up that quarterly report I've been putting off (I don't want my boss on my ass). Exercise is no different but it's so much harder to get motivated. "To be healthy" or "to lose weight" sound great and dandy but it won't get me to run outside in the nasty weather when I'm all comfortable sitting on the couch and feeling extremely lazy.
Motivation is different for everyone but what motivates me the most is competition. I get such satisfaction in beating someone, whether it be in a card game or basketball or drinking game. Anything. And to make it even more satisfying, I like to up the stakes by making bets... make it juicier since I need more than bragging rights. But I don't want your money. I want to embarrass you.
These days a $20 bet between each other won't really push a person anymore than without a bet. One would have to make a higher monetary bet, maybe like $1000 but then it could get really ugly since you're talking about serious money between friends... or should I say, former friends once the loser pays out.
So the next best thing is to bet on humiliation. No one wants to be embarrassed, laughed at... especially in public. Almost all of my bets revolve around embarrassment. I don't want your money but if I have to run around a crowded park shirtless, wearing tight Speedos, you're damn sure I'm doing anything to win that bet.
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| Here I am snowboarding shirtless because of a lost bet. |
What motivates you?
Humiliation is a great motivator! For instance, in bootcamp the other day, we were doing a shoulder exercise in which each person holds their weights straight out in front of them for about 30 seconds. I have always had weak shoulders and my arms were burning so bad that I wanted to quit but the HUMILIATION that would've resulted from being the first person in the entire class to drop their weights, especially when 60-year old grandma is still hanging tough right next to me, kept me motivated enough to keep those weights raised for longer than I would've thought possible!
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