Dates are a magical thing. They make things official. They serve as a launching pad, a starting line.

I’ve always tried to use that to my advantage — especially as a fitness trainer, when motivation is at its highest and the eagerness to succeed is overwhelming.

This is how I know many of you — whether you are a wide-eyed freshman or a long-tenured faculty member — are using the fall semester to start anew. For some, it may be setting a new fitness goal. Some guys wanna get swole, I get it. Some girls might want to drop a dress size.

I’m all about spreading the joy of working out.

But motivation extends to more than just physical health here — it’s something you’ll need to carry through correctly to make your semester a great one. It’s as important mentally as it is physically. Both are connected, and the right, positive outlook in both areas is key to long-lasting health and wellness.

Many of us will try to reinvent a part of ourselves. We’ll make up for a past mistake, or we’ll try to be someone or something we weren’t before.

Just keep it intrinsic.

There are two kinds of motivating factors: extrinsic, or the external factors (he’s hot, I want him, I need to be hot to make him want me), and intrinsic, or the internal factors (I want to do this to better myself, to better my quality of life).

According to the American Council on Exercise, in regards to exercise, intrinsic motivation means a person is engaged in physical activity for the inherent pleasure that comes from the engagement itself. Intrinsic activity is associated with positive attitudes and emotions, like happiness and relaxation. Maximal effort and persistence when faced with barriers is demonstrated. The goal is always to maximize that potential, but to not expect it to always be present.

On the other hand, extrinsic motivation involves participation and motivation outside of enjoyment: rewards, praise and introjection — pursuing an activity because of an external factor.

For fitness, that external factor is often physical, like losing weight. What feelings are associated with that? Usually bad ones, like guilt, stress, pressure and — the worst — negative association. It’s like going to the gym not because you want to sweat and feel awesome and empowered afterward, but because you ate a cookie.

One of the hardest parts of training people is trying to strengthen intrinsic motivation: the desire for someone to promote a healthy change because they truly want it, no matter how difficult it may be. And they want it for the right reasons: to better their mental and physical health.

Don’t use the new academic year for the extrinsic reasons. Extrinsic motivation cannot sustain you. People who try to undertake a healthy change for external factors — vanity, for example — drop their diets and exercise regimes within two weeks of starting them. Don’t be that person, in whatever you choose to explore this year.

Learn what makes you happy. Undertake new activities. Figure out which ones you enjoy, and which ones challenge you in the best ways.

Do things for the right reason. Believe in your own capabilities, and do everything with a positive mind and good heart.

That should always be the ultimate motivation.

Jillian is a magazine, newspaper and online journalism masters student. Her column appears every Wednesday in Pulp. She tells people how to be healthy through writing and from the recumbent bicycle at the front of the cycling room in Archbold Gymnasium. Email her at jathaw@syr.edu and follow her on Twitter @jathaw.

Published on August 28, 2013 at 2:09 am