Fitness is all about staying motivated. How you exercise isn’t anywhere near as important as how often you exercise. I write a lot about how fitness video games are great at helping people stay motivated, but I also recognize that some people aren’t that interested in being gamers. I know the gamer culture can be a bit of a turnoff for some.
Even so, the ideas in video games that help you stay motivated can be transferred to other aspects of your life. Here are five ways you can use the elements in gaming to stay motivated without ever firing up a computer or console.
1. Keep Score
I can hardly think of a recent video game that doesn’t keep a collection of statistics on just about every action the player takes. Total play time, total distance traveled, total enemies defeated — usually broken down by method, time taken to defeat each boss, how often you use particular weapons or tools etc.
The reason is simple. Statistics help you monitor goals. They provide a sense of comparison and a clear measure of how you’ve improved and how far you’ve come. You will be more likely to keep at it if you keep track of everything. Every day you exercise, put a mark on your calendar. Write down total reps of every kind of exercise you do, total pounds lost, total weight lifted etc. There’s nothing like looking at your stats and realizing you’ve done 5,000 squats since you started exercising.
Also, just like in video games, be competitive. Try to find a community or workout buddy and engage in some friendly competition. Even if you’re just competing with yourself, try to beat your own stats. You’ll be willing to work harder and push yourself when there’s a reason to do so that applies to the same day.
2. Unlockables
One of the main things that keeps gamers playing into all hours of the night is the sense of accomplishment you gain from progressing in the game. Time never feels wasted, because your actions are regularly earning you new rewards. In game currency, badges, weapons or tools, characters, abilities, outfits, everything.
You can transfer this same reward system to things outside of games. Think of something you want but don’t need. Then pick a goal you want to achieve. The goal should be just challenging enough that you know you can meet it, but that it may also take a few tries. Then earn that thing you want by achieving the goal. It’s that simple. Do this with as many different goals as possible.
3. Combining Short Term and Long Term Goals
Games are typically broken up into levels and missions. Some missions are short, some are long. Depending on the type of game there is usually some overarching story. You know the big boss you are going to have to face from early on, but you have to do a number of other missions to get there.
To bring this outside of the game world, you need to set lots of different kinds of goals. Set big goals. Set small goals. Try to include a reward for every goal you achieve. An example of reward for a small goal could be as simple as allowing yourself to watch an episode of a show you like or trying a smoothie that sounds good. An example of a reward for a big goal can be something a lot more rewarding or expensive.
4. Save your Game
Modern games hold your place so that you don’t lose your progress. Even if you stop playing, you can still pick up right about where you left off. In other words, you can never really go too far backwards.
This is an important part of motivational goal setting. Failing to achieve a goal can make you feel down on yourself. Feeling down on yourself is bad for motivation. It’s a vicious cycle. The way around this is to set goals that you can’t really fail, particularly with short term goals. For instance, don’t set a goal of going to the gym four days in a week. Set the goal of going to the gym four days period. Take the time constraint out of it. That way, if you miss a day for whatever reason, you are still able to accomplish the goal the next week. The reward will keep you motivated to finish. You can also do this with total reps, distance run, calories burned etc.
Also, though it may sound counter-intuitive don’t use weight loss or other fitness measures as a goal unless it is a “boss” goal (see below). While you may have a certain weight in mind or a certain weight you want to lift in mind, these kinds of goals aren’t concrete. You have some control over it, but it is just vicarious control that manifests over long periods of time. You could potentially do everything you set out to do and still not meet this kind of goal. If the goals you are setting aren’t giving you the improvements you want then up the difficulty, but keep the goals themselves as something you have concrete control over.
5. Beat the Game
Most games have some kind of endpoint. There is a final level or a final boss that everything else in the game leads up to. It could also be a point where you’ve unlocked every reward in the game.
To stay motivated, it helps to have an endpoint. Have this “boss” goal in mind and always be moving towards it. The endpoint goal should take you at least a few months to achieve and other goals you set should be in furtherance of the one. Of course, have a really nice reward in mind when you do finally achieve it.
It’s important to remember meeting the endpoint goal doesn’t mean you stop exercising, it just means you get to set a new goal with a new reward. I take the opportunity to start a new fitness game or try a new exercise program. Be creative.
Here are a few examples of endpoint goals:
— If you like to watch TV on a treadmill or exercise bike, pick a longer series. Only watch it when you’re on a treadmill and go through the entire series.
— Do the boxing HIIT workout to every available fight for a particular boxer’s entire career.
— Do a particular exercise program a total of 100 times
— jog a total of 100 miles – lift a total of 100,000 pounds (not all at once of course