How do you guys stay motivated?

I saw the other thread about how much do you train. I saw some of the responses and made me ponder why I'm not more motivated or dedicated. Long story short I seek advice and or suggestions on how to stay motivated and driven to progress. I seem to have a really hard time on days like today when I get off work and just can't seem to find the energy to make myself go to the gym...

take a break for few days and if you're not going crazy not being able to train maybe jiu jitsu ain't for you...

Because I made a goal/promise and dammit im gonna see it through. To reach this goal I realize its not training when you want to that matters, its training when you dont. I also realize the hard part is getting your ass off the couch and in the car. Once your at the gym its always all good and you never regret it.

My instructor motivated me. He took the time and effort to put work into making me better and he also helped me realize i was getting better and that i need to be at the dojo more often. When someone is busting their ass for me its hard for me to not want to give back just as much. If i don't train i not let myself down but i put to waste all the hard work he has put into making me better. I can't just disrespect that ya know. I love doing jiu jitsu and it makes me happy so don't get me wrong there is no feeling of obligation.

Derek takes his job to another level, he could scrape by putting in the bare minimum but thats just not how he works. He puts everything he has into his teaching and students. He genuinely wants to see us grow not just as jiu jitsu players, but as martial artists and people.

So ya i owe everything to my instructor.

Originally Posted by Cody Kietzman

My instructor motivated me. He took the time and effort to put work into making me better and he also helped me realize i was getting better and that i need to be at the dojo more often. When someone is busting their ass for me its hard for me to not want to give back just as much. If i don't train i not let myself down but i put to waste all the hard work he has put into making me better. I can't just disrespect that ya know. I love doing jiu jitsu and it makes me happy so don't get me wrong there is no feeling of obligation.

Derek takes his job to another level, he could scrape by putting in the bare minimum but thats just not how he works. He puts everything he has into his teaching and students. He genuinely wants to see us grow not just as jiu jitsu players, but as martial artists and people.

So ya i owe everything to my instructor.

Kudos Cody, wish more had this attitude!!

Originally Posted by John Alighieri

take a break for few days and if you're not going crazy not being able to train maybe jiu jitsu ain't for you...

I agree with this assessment. There's got to be times where you take a few days off, even a week or two. You have to listen to your body and realize when to tone it down. As much as I, and everyone else here love Jiu-Jitsu there will always be times where you're sick of it. You'll have off days where you get tapped more than usual (which in the beginning is usually every day), but it's a matter of sticking with it and working towards getting better. That's why having an inflated ego doesn't work well in BJJ.

I personally have been hurt for a few months and just started back this week going to the beginners technique class. Just being back on the mat felt foreign to me, like I was a first timer despite the belt around my waist. To a point, I guess you could say I got used to BJJ not being a part of my life for a while, at least training wise. But my team is a group of outstanding training partners and friends who always push each other and offer help whenever possible. So in that sense, if you can't find motivation to train for yourself, find it in helping others train. Being there for your teammates is essential, and personally it's a part of training that I love.

You'll carve out your niche soon enough, trust me. Everyone has BJJ burnouts, but it's time away and time you rest that makes you appreciate the pain

After terrible long shifts or things like that, at least near the beginning of my training, I never felt like going to class. But I forced myself, “uggg after all that I’m going to go get smashed and choked…”. And after every class I always felt better because I came. I forced myself to go because I knew it (my body + mind) had just lapsed into a sedentary state. It just didn’t want to DO anything but it needed too. It sounds like you might be experiencing something like this.
If you don’t feel good about going AFTER you went, then take a break, you’re probably overtraining/working or some such thing.

The bottom line is keep it fun. Don't kick yourself for missing a class, but remind yourself of how much you like going to class, and how it makes you feel after having gone. Being critical of yourself is a terrible way to motivate. just look at how many people feel awful about being fat and are still fat despite years of beating themselves up over it. Stick with the positive motivators.

I'm only a white belt with 8 months experience. So I'm not sure how valuable my opinion is.

But I don't really need motivation. BJJ is is my drug. I don't even get taps very often. I'm not a phenom. My guard gets passed OFTEN. I get mounted OFTEN. I have to fight katagatame's and americanas and arm bars like every time I roll. I get triangled a lot. I'm putting on icy hot every time. Bruises all the time. The negatives outweigh the positives on paper. But shit man, I just love it. It is the most addictive game I've ever encountered. I don't really need to find the motivation. My motivation is learning. My motivation is getting better. My motivation is having a great coach and team mates to learn from. My motivation is comraderie.

I think I was on the edge of alcoholism and knocking on the door of obesity this time last year. Jiu jitsu hasn't just improved my health, but by breaking down my ego, it's made me a better person for myself, my girl and kid, and my family and friends. So my biggest motivation is that this is a tool that helps make me better. And I don't want to stop improving. Even on days when I'm exhausted.

Originally Posted by John Alighieri

take a break for few days and if you're not going crazy not being able to train maybe jiu jitsu ain't for you...

Almost everyone I know who trains is so dedicated because they love it, its what they want to be spending their time doing and that makes it pretty easy to motivate yourself. If you don't feel that way, maybe its not for you, or even likelier maybe you are focusing on the negative aspects like the effort and commitment, injuries and pain etc, than the positives... Checkout the book '10 minute toughness' and it will put you in the right place for sports psychology.

Beyond that there's what your trying to get out of it... While competition isn't my primary interest, after competing at NAGA with 8 weeks grappling experience I loved it, but my skills were not developed yet... I've realize I don't just want to edge out a victory for a gold medal, I want the difference between me and the second place competitor to be worlds, dimensions apart, I want it to be so that there was never even a contest.... But we all do, don't we? What will it take to realize that when your opponents across town in another gym thinking the same thing, putting the same, or MORE effort in? I know I need to do even more than that, train harder, smarter. Learn more, pay more attention, everything that it will take to make that difference, that is my motivation, or one form of it...