Re: Motivating yourself
 

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When I lived in Santa Barbara I paid my roommate to make sure I played poker. He would write down my hours on a white board, and we'd set goals for each day and work out a plan on how many hours I'd play. He'd also run errands for me and get me food and stuff to keep me happy. So for example I'd wake up at 8AM, and he'd deliver breakfast to me as long as I played a 4 hour session or something. His salary varied, but one of the more successful ones was that I would give him $20 a week minimum, and then going up to $50 a week if I played over 40 hours. Although I had to fire him because he became too demanding, haha

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I actually think this is a really good idea for the right type of people.

Broke college kids would do stuff for next to nothing (compared to your hourly or whatever), and good motivation im sure.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

Oh yeah and it was totally worth it. I mean I only had to play an extra hour (or less?) a month to pay for it all, and it kept me pretty happy knowing that I was putting in hours and that I had someone to talk to about my poker playing. If I was bummed and didn't want to play it was pretty easy for him to talk me into a good mood and get me to play a session or two for the day.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

I know this is kind of unrelated but if you are lifting weights three times a day that is almost surly counterproductive (unless you are on roids). You will be breaking down muscle tissue faster then your body can repair it. You will have much better results lifting 4-5 times a week.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

I am seeking the same motivation you seek. I will go to the gym several days a week for 1-2 months straight. Then suddenly I am "too tired from work" or whatever lame excuse I can come up with, and the next thing I know I am just back to drinking beer every night and no longer working out. After a few months of this, I'll go start going to they gym for 1-2 months again. I just wish I could keep it going.

It basically comes down to I am lazy. I am trying to overcome my laziness, but I am really lazy, which makes it hard to do.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

D,

As far as getting in shape, I have found that habit is the best motivator. When I exercised regularly, I felt like it was part of my day. Just make yourself do it, and you'll feel like you're cheating yourself on the days you skip.

For everything else, find someone who counts on you. It will make more difference than you could ever imagine.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

Ive always felt that if I just completely stopped procrastinating one day and just kept putting myself to work to improve financially and keeping up with everyday activities and staying fit and all that good stuff that my life would improve greatly and I would find myself in places in life that I would have never expected. But the one thing I have definately learned in life is that talk is cheap.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

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This has to do with the inherent disconnect between human beings and their perceptions of what will make them happy versus what actually does. Maybe I would be happy if I was 30 pounds lighter, but in the meantime I might really enjoy cookies and ice cream more than watching my diet. So this thing called "will power" goes away and another thing called "yummy donuts" arrives. The immediate pleasure is so much greater than the assumed future benefit that we have no chance. Or we can hold out for a week or a month or a year but eventually we cave. And we never just miss one workout or eat one donut, we miss a month and eat a box.

So the key seems to be getting the focus off of future results and putting it on the pleasure obtained immediately. Running a little faster today. Eating really tasty 300 calorie meals. Otherwise you face some dreary trudge on a stupid machine and rice cakes every day and it's not long before all that mess goes out the window.

So I keep myself motivated by setting a long-term goal and breaking that into smaller short-term goals and then breaking those into daily tasks that are at the least acceptable and at best enjoyable.

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amplify, you are quickly becoming one of my favorite posters.
will you be my lifecoach/spiritualguide/rolemodel?

Re: Motivating yourself
 

Sponger,
Did he have any idea how much money you were making? 50 bucks a week as a ceiling for pay just wouldn't be worth it to run errands for me at least.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

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Sponger,
Did he have any idea how much money you were making? 50 bucks a week as a ceiling for pay just wouldn't be worth it to run errands for me at least.

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His friend was a broke college student. Thats a very cushy/profitable job for a college kid IMO.

Re: Motivating yourself
 

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I know this is kind of unrelated but if you are lifting weights three times a day that is almost surly counterproductive (unless you are on roids). You will be breaking down muscle tissue faster then your body can repair it. You will have much better results lifting 4-5 times a week.

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did i say per day? i meant per week if i did (too lazy to go back and look)
edit: ok i did look. i meant week. LOL