Ways to self-motivation

Tourism advertising shows almost exclusively happy people, blue skies, satisfied faces… Beautiful, but just not real! There is also bad weather, strenuous stages or days when you don’t feel so good physically and/or mentally. Not so pretty, but real! But what to do when things aren’t going so well? What can you then do for your own self-motivation?

Martina Navratilova, the former world-class tennis player, once said: “It doesn’t matter how good you are if you’re good. It matters a lot more how good you are when you’re bad.” What does she mean by that? When it runs, it runs by itself anyway, but the wheat separates from the chaff on bad weather days. Then when the fair-weather captains have long since gone below deck or even left the ship. We have collected concrete tips from our experiences from many hiking tours, expeditions and climbing routes and provide you with a guide for self-motivation on bad (weather) days.

• Pay attention to your messages to yourself and concentrate on doing!

Talk to yourself! It doesn’t matter whether it’s in words or thoughts. It is only important that you are not too hard on yourself, because thoughts create feelings. Roberto Assagioli, the founder of Psychosynthesis, once put it so aptly: “Don’t follow your feelings, your feelings should follow you”. But the dialogue doesn’t sound like positive thinking: “You can do it!”, but concentrates on the action itself and the technique used. Navi Seals learn this in training, and so do top climbers. They talk to themselves in difficult situations and describe what they are doing as it were. A climber, for example, does not think about what would happen if he were to fall now, but gives himself instructions such as: “Focus on the exact point on which you place your foot This message to yourself focuses your attention on the necessary action and not on all sorts of unhelpful splinters of thought.
For hiking it sounds like this: “Control your initial pace!”, or “Rhythmize your steps !“. Other examples would be: “Be careful where you put your foot.”; ” Straighten your upper body and stay in balance with your body!”; “Concentrate on the exhalation”! And if it gets steep, e.g. “Take smaller steps instead!” All this will help you to avoid the following focus trap!

Experienced climbers know how to use their messages to motivate themselves

• Avoid the focus trap!

People tend to focus on that when they have problems or pain. All thoughts then revolve only around this problem. This is called the focus trap. The more you focus on something, the more space it takes up in your psyche. And how do you get out of this trap? Consciously direct your attention to other things, away from the problem. For example, consciously perceive the colors, lights, noises that surround you or concentrate on what you are doing!
You can also avoid the focusing trap by trying exactly the opposite for self-motivation. The following example: If you hike a long way, something can hurt you. This is more “normal” than “surprising”. In everyday life, we are often tempted to counter pain with appropriate means (painkillers). However, pain usually has a protective function for the body and should not be ignored. Pain can often be met by breathing into it. Concentrate on the pain point, e.g. a muscle tension, and breathe consciously towards this point. Conscious breathing helps you not to fall into the focus trap. In the beginning, it is usually the case that the pain increases with the attention. But if you keep your concentration and your breath, the pain can miraculously dissolve into nothing.

• Realize that you decide about the situation and take responsibility for your actions!

From my own expedition experience, I can say that you always decide for yourself how dangerous or strenuous a situation is. One can view heavy snowfall at 7,000 meters as life threatening or as what it is – snowfall at high altitude. That decides in your head! In hindsight, if you show mental toughness, it was a challenging situation – and nothing more. So de-dramatize the situation and do what needs to be done! And if you’re struggling with fate again and wondering why you chose such a difficult trail: realize that nobody forced you to do it. Become aware that no excuse, no matter how cunning, will bring you one step closer to your goal. Learn to stand by your decisions and wrong decisions! And if you went along the trail for someone’s sake? Then learn to stand by your decisions and wrong decisions!

• Turn your walking into an inspiring exercise and see walking as a miracle!

Walking comes naturally to most of us, we do it intuitively without even thinking about it. When walking, however, we need the contraction, relaxation, and coordination of the foot, calf, thigh, buttock, back, shoulder, and arm muscles (the latter only when walking with poles or doing trail running). Humans also have 28 foot bones, a myriad of tendons and ligaments that unconsciously coordinate the most complex human locomotor system. Unfortunately, we usually only become aware of this when it no longer works, when we are injured. But remember: others would do anything to just be able to walk (pain-free). Consciously enjoy the flowing movement of walking! A note on self-motivation: a fascinating way to do this is through walking meditation, which is described in various books by the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Coordinate your inhalation and exhalation with the rhythm of your steps. Deliberately walk a little slower and become aware of each of your steps.

• Give yourself a day off on the trail and canceling can sometimes only make sense!

Leisure time should stand out from everyday life with a different rhythm. We therefore believe that a trail should be more of a pleasure than a mere sporting challenge. This also means that you consciously allow yourself some rest. It is best to plan the rest day in your hiking trip from the outset. A rest day is often balm for the soul and feet and works wonders for self-motivation.

You don’t treat yourself to anything else: a rest day on the trail for self-motivation ©Hotel Moserhof/Seeboden am Millstätter See

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