Motivation or Notivation?

It's January, when everyone and their brother decides to make all kinds of resolutions and head for the gym, head for the healthy diet, or head for the various video exercise programs. Yea for first of the year motivation!  But, as we all know, sometimes that motivation doesn't carry over past January, so how can you keep your motivation going for derby practice day in and day out? Derby practices are usually held after long days of working, or at crazy hours early on Sundays, or just plain inconvenient times. We cram derby in whenever we can, and sometimes it's when we're exhausted, tired, grumpy, overwhelmed or just super cranky.  How do we drag our well worn carcasses to practice night after night?  I'll try an counteract all of the nasty little things we say to ourselves to get out of going to practice...I said I'd try!

1.  I had a horrible day at work.  Well, before I found the great job I have now, I had a

My notivation face. Photo by Glenn McGregor

RIDICULOUS job with a really jerk-boss.  I'm not exaggerating. He was a jerk, and he completely tried to break me down every opportunity he had; work was daily hell for me. Some days I would sit in the parking lot before my job and just gather my strength to take the five steps to go from the car into the office. It took a lot of gathering, but there was one thing that kept me going was I had derby practice to look forward to.  I kept all of those angry, defeated feelings bottled up so I could keep that shitty job and not murder my boss.  Derby practice helped so much with my anger control, and it kept me able to take those five steps every day for over two years. Just remember, if you had a shitty shitty day at work, then derby practice just might be the ticket to turn your mood around. Remember, derby is a great way to get those endorphins going.

2.  I'm too tired to go.  I often have this argument with myself.  I feel like I have an extremely lazy person living inside of me and I'm at constant war with her. Every time I struggle with my inner lazy chick and I win, I feel like I deserve a mental medal. I know nobody else is keeping track, but I am. My inner lazy chick is a stubborn and devious foe who tempts me to sit on my ass and watch tv, or sit on my ass and stare at my toes, or sit on my ass and eat bon bons. I know I should go to practice, but my inner lazy chick whispers in my ear "There's an ANTM marathon on all day today on Oxygen.  Just staaaaaaay home."  She's insidious, and she knows my weakness.  The best way I've learned to to win over my inner lazy chick is to not sit down in the first place. If I stay out of her territory, she can't work her wiles.

3.  It's SOOOOO EARLY!  Once again, some derby practices just suck for their timing.  We used to have an 8:00am practice on Saturday mornings that just about let that inner lazy chick win. Sometimes getting up for that early practice is easy, motivation at warp factor five, Mr. Sulu!  But right around February, when it gets rainy and cold in the morning, getting up becomes that much harder. The only way I power through the temptation to stay in the warm, snuggly bed, is routine.  The night before, I have all of my gear ready, my outfit for practice together, and hell, even my breakfast is ready for me to cram into my mouth before I shuffle off to practice. Go to hell, lazy chick. Just shush.  Besides, after an early morning practice, I feel awake and energized! I can get my errands run and then head home and be as lazy as I want to be.  Naps are always great after an early morning practice.

4.  I'm not excited about having my ass kicked tonight. Either it's going to happen through some horrific drill, some really rough scrimmage, or soul crushing endurance, but you know it's coming.  In fact, I'm really surprised so many derby peeps have the gumption to actually go to practice on a regular basis knowing what they know about derby. Whenever I know that practice is going to be specifically brutal, I remind myself that I will definitely learn something,  no matter how uncomfortable the learning is.

When all else fails, I have to say that reminding myself that I'm on a team and people are counting on me to show up to practice. We all help motivate each other, and sometimes I can be the wind beneath someone's wings, and sometimes they're the wind beneath mine. Sometimes I drag my ass to practice with absolutely zero motivation, and being around my teammates lifts me up, and hopefully I do the same for them too. Remembering that I am not alone in my notivation, and when it hits me, I have my team to pull me out of it.