How do you maintain motivation...

[Landing~Lutzes]

...When you have a lot going on (good and bad) outside the rink?

[rachelplotkin]

What works for me is to compartmentalize.  The wonderful benefit to skating (at least for me) is I cannot think about anything else when I am skating.  Other cares and worries vanish temporarily as I focus on the skills I am learning.  The rise in endorphins that occurs afterward a lesson or practice make it much easier to cope with all the other stuff going on in my life.  This is what keeps me motivated. 

[sk8time]

What works for me is to compartmentalize.  The wonderful benefit to skating (at least for me) is I cannot think about anything else when I am skating.  Other cares and worries vanish temporarily as I focus on the skills I am learning.  The rise in endorphins that occurs afterward a lesson or practice make it much easier to cope with all the other stuff going on in my life.  This is what keeps me motivated.

This is true for me too - I sometimes just keep reminding myself it's worth heading to the rink even when there are pressing deadlines or other things. The exercise and refocus on very different skills from demands of job, etc. help to get a much fresher start.  I always feel better making the effort (though I'll also have to avoid getting frustrated with skills that are still beyond my reach....    )

[jjane45]

The wonderful benefit to skating (at least for me) is I cannot think about anything else when I am skating. 

LOL 

I used to say skating keeps me sane, haha. However if life is really depressing, skating is still affected. Just don't give up and stick to regular skating schedule as much as possible.

[SynchKat]

I sometimes think of it as the only time truly to myself.  You can be as social or not on a session.  Also most of my friends are through skating so going to the rink I get to see friends and chat and have fun. 

That being said always in the late fall I have a really hard time getting out to the rink because I always go through this funk where I just don't want to do it anymore.  I just push myself and get through it.

[TreSk8sAZ]

By knowing that if I push myself and go to the rink, whether I want to or not, once I get there and start working I can push every thing else into the background. Especially if things are bad, I can go and be by myself but feed off the energy of my skating friends. Even when things are good but just crazy, that one hour of just being able to breathe re-energizes me enough to keep up!

[sampaguita]

Skating keeps me motivated, when there are lots of things going on outside the rink.    There was a time when it was the only thing that kept me sane.

[aussieskater]

The wonderful benefit to skating (at least for me) is I cannot think about anything else when I am skating.  Other cares and worries vanish temporarily as I focus on the skills I am learning.  The rise in endorphins that occurs afterward a lesson or practice make it much easier to cope with all the other stuff going on in my life.  This is what keeps me motivated.

Same here.  I think as much as anything it's because of the level of focus the sport requires.

Like many adults who find their way to skating later in life, I didn't have a background in sport as a child, so never developed that "second sense" which puts you on autopilot while participating in sport, freeing the brain to think about other things.  When bad stuff happens in the real world, the rink is the one place I can go to get out of the real world's headspace.

[AgnesNitt]

When things are going bad in your life, exercise is important. Motivating yourself to skate for exercise is as important as motivating yourself to test. Sometimes testing may need to be put on the back burner, but you still need to exercise to keep stress at bay, even if it's just laps.

[treesprite]

I'm always motivated, which makes it especially frustrating when other non-skating things keep me from skating.  Half the time I go to skate having only had 3 or 4 hours of sleep, simply to fit the skating in my schedule; if that isn't motivated, I don't know what is.

[HannahLouise]

 

My mum came up with the idea of me using a dream board. I set my self a goal and stick it on my wall so I always notice it. It's next to my skating certificates so if for example my new goal is to finish the field moves level in the next few weeks, then I will be hoping to replace that goal with a certificate (which looks much better) this got me through the first basic ten levels as I got really bored and my coach (in my opinion at the time) was going through the levels too slowly. Now years later, he was obviously right about it!

Happy skating