4 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Jog
Start to do exercise from scratch is hard, motivation is needed. So does to jog consistently.
I once said that jogging is quite easy to begin, but what I haven't said is how hard to maintain doing so.
Feasibility is one thing, motivation is another.
There are 4 ways I find effective. You may try them yourself.
The first two require other people, but you can pull off the last two on your own.
Hope you find them useful.
This is Antlerium PotatoNews, a series focusing on the daily lives of ordinary people, including life tips. Today we have a follow-up on the guide to jogging, methods to motivate jogging.
Be friends with joggers
Before you become a true jogger, try to learn from a true jogger. The best way to motivate yourself to jog is to get inside a jogger community.
One reason for people to quit doing something is they feel alone.
Take, for instance, the realm of gaming, where children swiftly move on to new hot games to avoid being left behind by the trendsetters. The fear of being part of a dwindling community drives them to follow the cool ones, leaving behind their former interests.
We all know the undeniable influence of peer pressure. If your current social circle isn't accustomed to regular exercise, it becomes daunting to break the mold. When none of your friends share your enthusiasm for jogging, the thought of giving up starts to creep in.
But fear not! Instead of searching for a jogging buddy among your existing friends, why not forge a friendship with a fellow jogger who shares your running route?
By aligning yourself with like-minded individuals, you not only gain a jogging companion but also tap into their wealth of experience. This newfound camaraderie fosters a profound sense of belonging—surrounded by fellow joggers, you instantly become part of the vibrant jogging community, and your dedication to jogging will flourish.
Get your friends or your close ones to monitor you jogging
Another method that motivates you to jog is to get monitored. Find someone you trust to be your monitor, tell him the date, time and route, and let him see you complete the jogging.
If your self discipline is bad, you will need this.
By getting yourself monitored, you can trick your mind that "you have to do the task, there is no escape." Now you are forced to jog.
You only need to do this until you get used to it. When you turn jogging into a habit, you don't need to be monitored anymore.
After you remove monitoring, if you feel less motivated, try to use the above method, meet joggers and be friends with them. Or you can try the next two methods alone.
Embed jogging into your commute
You can motivate yourself to jog when you have to jog to work. So, try incorporating jogging into your commute.
Look for jogging-friendly paths or trails along your commute route. Consider parks, riverfronts, or pedestrian-friendly areas that can accommodate jogging.
Determine how far you can comfortably jog within your commute time. Start with a realistic distance that allows you to reach your destination on time without rushing or causing excessive fatigue.
If you cannot jog all the way to your workspace, you can just choose one part of the route that can switch to jogging. You could jog to a bus or train station, jog part of the way and then take public transportation, or jog to a carpool or bike-sharing location.
Just wear comfortable athletic clothing and supportive running shoes. You can carry your work clothes separately and change them upon arrival.
By incorporating jogging into your commute, you turn jogging into something inseparable from your daily life.
End a jog with a reward
If you can successfully jog to the end, reward yourself. This can greatly motivate you to keep jogging.
When you jog to a designated place, do something that can increase dopamine. Dopamine is happy hormone, activating it after a challenging task can encourage you to do it more.
These are the activities that can boost dopamine:
- Viewing astonishing view
- Eating snacks
- Chatting with likable people
Select the reward feasible for you, and you can change the reward at any moment.
Ultimately, don't let your brain believe that jogging that hard leads to nothing. Every time you jog, prepare a reward that makes you happy, so you can feel that jogging that hard can gain something.
It is up to you to decide whether jogging is fun
Ultimately, simply reminding yourself why you should jog can only motivate you for a bit. The above four methods can effectively boost your internal and external motivation.
And these four methods to motivate jogging can also apply to other activities that you want to turn into habits.
Be friends with people with that habit. Find people to monitor you. Embed the habit with constant daily activities. Reward yourself after doing the habit.
According to the 21/90 rule, persisting for 21 days can solidify the activity into a habit.
Try this, and share with us how it turns out.
These are the ways to motivate jogging. To learn more about life tips or other topics related to our ordinary life, make sure to follow PotatoNews. We will also post some cliffsnotes on our socials, make sure to follow them.
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