Tag Archives: Future

So what is motivation ?

Motivation is the determination to reach our personal goals or desires. It is influenced by how much we want to achieve that goal, what we might gain from the achievement and what we from expect from ourselves.
There is little doubt that when it comes to health and wellness, the ability to stay positively motivated and continue with good physical activity and nutrition habits can be a struggle. Often we start out strong and then ‘life’ gets in the way and we go back to our old, perhaps not so good, behaviours. So here are some quick tips to help you stay motivated. 

- Self-belief to stay motivated is important as it influences our thinking. Developing a positive and high self-belief can create successful changes in our behaviours especially during exercise and help us reach our goals. Use positive self-affirmations.

- Find your reason why you want to achieve this goal, write it up somewhere and keep your focus on it, this is often a good way to stay motivated if you feel you are faltering.

- Set realistic, rewarding goals and regularly review them. This is a key aspect of keeping yourself motivated to get the positive benefits. To start with, it is sometimes helpful to just set one achievable goal and work it into your daily routine, break it down into manageable parts.  For example if your goal is to exercise, start by doing a daily walk for 30 minutes. Have a timeframe for when you want to have achieved this a s regular activity and then build on it.

- Keep a good and regular routine – Use an app or a reminder system so you can’t let the day escape before you have achieved your daily goal – some people make this work by creating a daily appointment for themselves just as they would for any other appointment for example the hairdresser, doctor, dentist or a friend. Being busy’ or ‘being too tired’ often causes a break down in the routine that was
initially set.

- Use your family and friends as support – tell them about your goals and encourage them to help keep you motivated. Buddy up with someone so you can help and motivate each-other or get yourself a mentor to guide you. Check your goals and your progress frequently. Seeing good progress is a great motivator in itself, and can also improve your self-confidence.

- Keep goals fun and reward yourself when you have achieved them, make a plan for when and how you will do this. Put a note on your calendar for reward day so you keep progressing towards the goal.

Remember …..
If you lose motivation for a day or two, don’t let that deter you. Pick yourself up and carry back on again, see it as a challenge not a failure, setbacks are normal.

Janine Porter-Steele

Janine is The Clinical Nurse Manager of the Wesley Hospital Choices Cancer Support Centre in Brisbane.  The centre offers support, sharing and information for women, men and their families affected by a diagnosis of cancer. For many years Janine has also been actively involved with the Women’s Wellness Research Programs as manager,  delivering the programs, supporting the development of resources, and co-writing a number of the journals.

Janine undertook much of her training in the UK as a registered nurse, midwife, health visitor and family planning nurse. She completed a Bachelor of Nursing at QUT, a Masters in Nursing Leadership at ACU and she is also Breast Care and Women’s Health Nurse. Janine believes very strongly in providing interdisciplinary and comprehensive support for people affected by a diagnosis and treatment of cancer and has a particular interest in younger, midlife and older women’s health. Janine completed her PhD studies in the area of cancer and sexuality linked with the Women’s Wellness after Cancer Program (WWACP). Her particular focus is in managing menopause, sexuality, body image and depression issues for women.

Lately, Janine has been working with Auckland University and the University of Queensland to deliver a program as part of a research trial providing a Women’s Wellness Program for young women in New Zealand  (NZ) diagnosed with breast cancer. She and the Women’s Wellness team have also been recipients of a grant from Wesley Medical Research. They are using this to replicate the NZ feasibility trial with young women diagnosed with breast cancer in Australia.

In her spare time Janine likes spending time with family and friends. She enjoys walking the local bush tracks in the area. Her favourite relaxation is wandering along the beach in Northern New South Wales and kayaking the rivers down there.