movement – motivation – mindset
The Manifesto of the Come Alive Project is Health, Fitness and Personal Energy for Active Seniors through Movement, Motivation and Mindset. Let’s take a look at how those three elements look on the page. How do I define and use each of these terms.
Movement: You must move your body to stay alive and youthful. That refers to the concept of moving the body from simple walking, to programs like Pilates, basic calisthenics, using your own bodyweight, to machines, barbells and dumbbells. As we get older, we need to learn to move our bodies naturally, the way we use them in everyday life, but in a way that improves our strength, range of motion and flexibility. That would include the basic floor and core movements, stretching, as well as bodyweight and resistance movements to build strength. All too often Seniors leave out one or more parts of the movement spectrum and don’t get all the benefits of what they are easily capable of doing. I include breathing, rest and sleep patterns as part of movement.
Motivation: I’ve done a number of blog posts recently on motivation, particularly the subject of intrinsic motivation. Many adults are motivated at the beginning of a new year to improve their current physical reality. They become, for a short time, willing to create a new reality for themselves in the area of Health, Fitness and Personal Energy. But they get sidetracked or discouraged by plateaus and periodic lack of progress. They don’t see the improvements they expect so all too often, they give up.
Recent research has shown that even if a person’s doctor has told a person to exercise or get sick and die, only one of seven people who have been given that warning by their doctor, will even start an exercise program for their own benefit. Why is that? Who knows? I would think that would be enough motivation for anyone, but apparently, it’s not.
As I’ve written before, Intrinsic motivation is the key. Something inside a person needs to want to take the time and effort to move their body and take responsibility for their own Health, Fitness And Personal energy, whether they feel like it the time or not. Dick Van Dyke, at age 90, looks forward to 40 minutes at the gym every day. Gillian Lynne and Twyla Tharp, both working dance choreographers in their 80s, force themselves to exercise for 40 to 50 minutes every day. That’s in addition to the time spent practicing their craft. Richard Branson, the Billionaire owner of Virgin Airlines and many other businesses says that “working out” is key to his productivity. Is there a message there?
Mindset: Motivation and Mindset overlap but they are not inherently the same. Mindset refers to your overall attitude about life and how you choose to live it. People with positive Mindset tend to be highly enthusiastic about life no matter what their age. People with a negative mindset often are sick more often, have low energy and can drain the energy from a room when they enter it.
Carol Dweck, PhD has written an excellent book entitled, Mindset, where she differentiates between a “growth” mindset and a “fixed” mindset. The following is from the book’s flyleaf:
“Dweck has found that everyone has one of two basic mindsets. If you have the fixed mindset, you believe that your talents and abilities are set in stone — either you have them or you don’t . . . this is the path of stagnation. If you have a growth mindset, however, you know that talents can be developed and that great abilities are built over time. this is the path of opportunity — and success.”
This applies to business, sports and fitness, as well as other aspects of life. Dr. Dweck says that we can change our mindset at any stage of life. I recommend the book, it is an excellent read. The subject of Mindset will be a topic for a future post.
Anthony Robbins refers to this as “State”. Others refer to it as “attitude”. Whatever you choose to call it, it can determine your approach to your own Health, Fitness and Personal Energy.
If you learn and apply those three elements of Movement, Motivation and Mindset to your own personal development as you get older, you will quickly discover Your Own Fountain of Youth. Instead of aging in the traditional way, you might find yourself becoming “ageless” in mind and body, (as defined in last week’s article).
Thank you for reading.