Louis Dorman’s RULE #1 Motivation

Posted by Maria Kang on August 7, 2007

As I promised – I will be posting Louis Dorman’s rules throughout the week since it was his birthday yesterday and we need to celebrate his existence by reaping what he has brought to this world so far! He is an inspirational success story and a man with passion, vision and honor. Read on!
——-

Read more about Louis on bodybuilding.com

One of the first reasons that got me motivated was my desire to start a new life. Not just lose weight, but also next time I traveled back home I wanted to prove everyone wrong.

Showing everyone that I made the right choice to move to another state and create a new life for myself. That desire woke me up at 4:30am to workout. That desire motivated me to change my eating habits. That desire made me believe I could accomplish anything.

I didn’t want to just prove everyone wrong. I wanted to throw it in their face. I wanted to lose weight for all the people that made fun of me, teased me, bullied me – for all the girls that never game me a chance.

The first time I flew back home was around Christmas and I lost about 50lbs. Several of my friends and family showed up at the airport to pick me up. They were shocked at my results.

At The Beginning Of My Transformation.

About six months later I was another 50lbs lighter and ready to fly back home for summer. They all knew I was working out and trying to get down to a low body fat percentage. But they had no clue the type of person that was going to walk off that plane. I walked up to my brother at the airport and grabbed him. Everyone was silent, because they were all unaware it was me.

Find one reason why you want to make the change in your life – whenever you want to give up think of that reason.

Why?
In order to be successful at this lifestyle, you must have a good reason for doing it in the first place. What will get you up in the morning when you just want to stay in bed?

Many people say “I want to lose weight” or “I want to become healthier”. These are great goals, but they are not good enough reasons for long term success. You must dig a little deeper. What is important to you? What do you value most in life?

Commitment:
Once you find your “why”, it’s time to make a commitment. Here is a definition of commitment: “A commitment is the ability to carry out a worthy decision, even when the excitement of making that decision has passed.” Read that definition again, and really understand it.

How many times have you been excited to start a diet or an exercise program, only to become bored or side tracked by other things? As soon as the excitement passes, so does your exercise plans or your diet. Be sure you are ready to commit to this new lifestyle.

Motivation is what gets you to start & results is what keeps you from not quitting. Making changes in your lifestyle and starting something new is always difficult and takes time.

As a beginner, you need to be patient with yourself. Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they help you discover who you are. Go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. They are like our “teachers” – they help us to learn. There will be times when it will be difficult to maintain motivation. Don’t let those situations stop you from that “reason” why you wanted to start.

Here are 3 Keys to Staying Motivated:

The feeling you have a program that works for you – to reach your goals.
The feeling of people around you noticing results – Friends, family, co-workers.
Noticing results – clothing, weight, attracting opposite sex.

Self Motivation:
Don’t sit around and wait for someone to hold your hand and walk you to the gym or make your meals for you. You need to make this the most important thing in your life and do whatever it takes to achieve your goals.

View Your Mistakes As Stepping Stones:
View your mistakes as learning lessons on how to better accomplish your goals. A greater mistake is being afraid to never fail, then you will never learn from your mistakes. Our mistakes are our teachers – we learn from them.
Avoid Self-Collapsing:
So you decided to eat a few pieces of cake at your best friends wedding. Don’t give up, you just took a few steps back. Take what you learned from this experience and “harness” it for later use.
Enjoy It, Love It & Look Forward To It!
One way of assuring that you stay motivated is to make it fun. If you perceive your workout as a chore, you more than likely will not stick with it. Or not enjoying your meals – your going to cheat on your meal plan.

Here are 5 Tips For Making Your New Lifestyle Something to Look Forward to:

Variety:
Add exercises that you enjoy doing and allow you to get results. Come up with a list of foods you enjoy eating that are healthy and give you the nutrients you need to get results!
Educate Your Friends & Family To Start:
Training with a workout partner not only makes your training session more fun, safe, and intense, but will also increase the likelihood of your showing up at the gym.

Make sure you pick a partner whose goals and interests are similar to yours and who is willing to spot you correctly and motivate you to do your best. When you are around people that enjoy a healthy eating lifestyle, it doesn’t put stress on you to choose foods that are “not” healthy to please them.

Don’t Get Discouraged:
If you decide to blow off your morning workout to join your friends for a barbeque, just accept it and enjoy your decision and don’t become guilty of your choice. Focus on the journey that you have traveled so far, and not how far you have left to go.
Expect Plateaus:
If you feel you have reached a plateau and/or are bored, do not give up – this is a natural part of working out. Continue to search for new ways of making your routine fun and exciting. Make sure to vary the exercises, sets, repetitions and order of your workout.
Include Your Workout In Your Daily Schedule:
If you always exercise on the same days at the same time, your routine will become a lifestyle and not just something to do when you have time for it. Not going to the gym will feel unnatural. Eating unhealthy foods will become less and less desirable.

Fitness Cure