Throughout the course of this session, we have discussed various aspects of motivation. Those aspects of motivation include performance, survival, sexual, hunger, emotions, goals, and many more. While there are many personal behaviors that I wish to improve on, there is one goal that I particularly want to improve on. I want to improve on my goals of being physically healthy, while also being able to maintain it. I will go to the gym for forty-five minutes for five days a week. There are many biological factors are at play when it comes to increasing a person’s exercise.
According to my research, a person who is physically active is more likely to live longer (Bryan, Hutchison, K., Seals, D., & Allen, 2007). They are also less likely to obtain cancer, which can particularly result from lack of exercise and poor nutrition (Bryan, et al., 2007). An increase in exercise has also been found to have psychological benefits as well, such as produce an increase in mood and alleviate negative moods. Even as little as ten minutes of exercise is found can affect a person’s mood positively (Bryan, et al., 2007). In turn, exercise can result in an increase of motivation to exercise more often due to the increase in a person’s mood.
By having a positive mindset and drive, it will help make it easier to keep me motivated. It will also help me in achieving my fitness goal in order to help me stay physically in shape. The learning and cognitive aspects have a very important role in being able to achieve my goal. In today’s United States society, there are ideal body types. These type of ideals has been put in many people’s minds, including my own. It gives people the impression that everyone needs to be those particular body types. When in all actuality, most people will never have that those types of bodies. I always tried to live up to that ideal and it has caused me to lack positive and low self-esteem.
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As a result, I have given up many times in the past due to unreachable goals. The things we learn around us help influence us to determine what is a healthy lifestyle. The type of personal beliefs and cultural values also can influence our views of health ideals and body images. Emotions play a large role in my outcome for success in exercising for a certain amount of time throughout the week. As I have mentioned previously, exercise can create positive emotions in the body (Bryan, et al., 2007). Exercise can be used as a way of relieving negative emotions and improving a person’s mood. When a person exercises, it releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins. Endorphins release positive positive emotions throughout the body, which also calms the body down (Bryan, et al., 2007).
It has also be found that exercise reduces stress and anxiety (“Exercise Is an Important Aspect of Maintaining Emotional Health,” n.d). Positive emotions from the endorphins from exercising will help motivate me to exercise and meet my goals. When it comes to the social influences in physical activity, it can play a major role in the support and success in a person’s motivation to exercise (Cotter, Sherman, 2008). While it has been found that self-efficacy is one of the most important aspects of physical activity, social influences come into play as well. Higher levels of social support can help lead to a stronger self efficacy (Cotter, Sherman, 2008).
The most important thing that I have personally learned is that I have to believe in myself in order to make my goals happen. Without self-efficacy, it is difficult to achieve goals and ambitions. Along with a strong self-efficacy, e self-determination is also important in exercise. Self-determination involves doing something because of they enjoy doing it, it aligns with their personal values, and because the outcome is important to them (Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Shepherd, Ntoumanis, Wagenmakers, A., & Shaw, 2016).
However, if a person feels externally pressure and guilt into doing a task, such as an exercise, then they are more likely to fail (Thøgersen-Ntoumani, Shepherd, Ntoumanis, Wagenmakers, A., & Shaw, 2016). The support of friends and family help motivate me in trying to stay healthy and determined. I often go to the gym with my fiance Matt. I feel that we help motivate each other to push ourselves harder and also make the workouts more enjoyable. I notice that we are able to do more workouts and for longer durations than we would individually. I feel that the support system that I have from my parents, fiance, and close friends have helped me in achieving my physical activity goals thus far.
For my three-step plan, I first plan to strengthen my self-efficacy. Without having a strong self-efficacy, it is difficult to achieve our dreams. It is important to be able to believe in yourself, otherwise, the goal you are trying to achieve will not last. I believe that this is one of the main reasons why people stop exercising and eating well. My second plan is to eat healthier along with exercising. If I workout but still eat unhealthy foods, then the exercise will be less effective. My third plan is to keep trying and not let negative feelings influences consume me. I need to make exercise a normal part of my day and stay positive that I am on the right track. If I do have negative emotions, I need to channel them and use them to help further motivate me in achieving my goal.
While my goal of exercising five days a week is difficult, it is not impossible. Three things I learned from researching is exercise has many health benefits, both physically and mentally. Secondly, I learned that exercise can release chemicals to the brain the give off positive emotions, making working out more enjoyable. Lastly, I learned how important motivation and self-efficacy need to be involved in order for lasting results to stay on a healthy track.
