we talk all the time about how we each have unique nutrition needs, but did you know that we all have unique core motivations? Understanding what motivates us, what keeps us stuck, and what our fears and desires are can be GAME-CHANGERS on your health and fitness journey!
To talk about this, we have Amy Nabors here today to talk about the enneagram personality tool and how getting to know ourselves on a deeper level can be the biggest motivator! fun fact: she recently helped me figure out that I’m a enneagram type 5! Welcome, Amy!
When it comes to pursuing our goals, including our health and fitness goals, we often look for motivation to keep us going. Maybe you’re like me and you just aren’t a very driven person. (Anyone else content with just a good book, cozy blanket, and a warm tea?) Understanding what keeps us stuck and unmotivated can be a good place to start in figuring out how to motivate ourselves.
Understanding ourselves using the personality tool of the Enneagram can help us become more aware of what is keeping us stuck, or what de-motivates us. Unlike other personality frameworks, the Enneagram looks at our underlying core motivations. Our core motivations are what can keep us stuck.
Our core motivations are made up of our core fear, our core weakness, our core longing, and our core desire.
When we live from our core fear, we believe the lies it tries to tell us. Lies like we aren’t good enough, not needed, not secure, not unique, not successful, and more. If we are unaware of our core fear and core weakness, we live from a place of basing our worth on what we have, what we do, or what others think or say about us.
Our core motivations also affect our mindsets. Our mindset influences not only our mental health, but also our physical health and every aspect of our life. When we see ourselves through our core fears we are not living from our true worth.
We have invaluable worth simply because we exist. Period. When we don’t live from a place of knowing that our true worth is not dependent on what we do or what we have or what others think about us or how we look, it can keep us from reaching our goals. It can keep us from living from a place of purpose and peace.
When we act and react in hopes that our core longing and core desire will be met by what we do or how people react to us, we give our power away to others. This is the lie that our core fear wants us to believe and keeps us striving and overly focused on that “some day” in the future when we think our core longing and desire will be met by something or someone outside of ourselves. We need to be aware of our core fear and underlying motivations and how they impact our choices and how they can keep us stuck in a never ending mindset of shame and regret which keep us stuck in the past. This just leads to feeling more stressed which will always hinder our health and fitness if not acknowledged wreaking havoc on our bodies in the long term. Our bodies keep the score when we don’t take care of our emotional and mental health.
Learning to live from our true worth and from a place of inner peace can help us move toward our health, fitness, and other goals. By naming our core fears and other core motivations they will begin to lose their hold over the thoughts and mindsets that keep us from living from a place of peace and purpose.
So what can we do to move from a place of feeling stuck and start living from our true worth?
- Learn about your core fears and underlying motivations. To learn more you can schedule a free consultation to learn what Enneagram based life coaching could look like for you.
- Be aware how these core motivations appear in your thoughts, actions, and reactions. Reflect on your experiences throughout your day or at the end of your day by finding a quiet moment to think over the day. Journaling is another great way to reflect.
- If you find your mind racing or becoming stressed, take a few deep breaths. You can find a couple of simple and short mindfulness and breathing practices here.
- Explore different mindfulness and meditation practices. There are some great apps for this. The Calm app, Second Breath, and The Tapping Solution are my favorites, but there are many out there and you can usually find a free trial to see if you like them. Incorporating a mindfulness or meditation practice can help you learn to be more present throughout your day which can help you live with more inner peace. If the thought of trying meditation or mindfulness is overwhelming you can start really small with the simple and short practices above.
- Give yourself compassion and grace. Just like you won’t meet your health and fitness goals overnight, personal growth is a long game not a sprint.
And the great thing about working on our health and fitness along with our personal growth and mindset? Exercise and good nutrition have a positive impact on our personal growth and mindset so they feed each other!
Amy Nabors
Growth Essentials Coaching – http://growthessentialscoaching.com/
Instagram – @growthessentialsllc
Facebook – @growthessentialsllc
