There was a really interesting experiment a few years ago by a British psychologist on the psychology of motivation in general and weight loss in particular. Over 5,000 people participated who wanted to achieve a certain goal such as to lose weight, quit smoking, get new qualifications, or start a relationship.

 

He then followed the participants for a year and at the end of the study, only 10% of the 5,000 participants had accomplished what they originally set out to achieve. One thing he found to hurt our motivation was something many of us do. Those who had a celebrity role model, perhaps by putting an image of a fitness model on their fridge door, usually did not drop a clothing size…

 

I know this runs counter to what most weight loss motivation articles out there recommend. I always felt kind of motivated when I saw a picture of someone with a great physique and wanted to emulate them. But according to the scientist that’s precisely the problem. We regularly confuse what motivates us in the long term with what makes us feel good in the short term.

 

Merely choosing a picture of perfection and slapping it on your fridge door will not help you in the long run. Once you really run into problems with your diet you will start to hate the picture or tell yourself that is all about their genetics. Fortunately, there still is a way role models can help you succeed in losing weight. So here is the correct way to use role models for weight loss motivation.

 

First, you need to realize that a wallpaper isn’t a role model. It’s just a picture, and we see so many pictures every day that they lose their emotional power far too quickly to produce any long-term motivation for weight loss.

 

A good role model is someone with a story, which you can relate to. You need to know their background or read their blog or follow their youtube channel. If possible you should be able to ask them questions and interact with each other.

 

Next, you choose your role model based not on their looks or genetics, but on their decisions in life. So any picture of them would function only as a reminder of the decisions they represent. Even if they were blessed with mazing genetics they still put in the time to go to the gym or to stick to their diet. This is what you want to focus on, not the end result.

 

Another interesting thing is that some people are more motivated and inspired by examples of failure than examples of success. If this is the case for you than you want to find role models that are congruent with your motivational strategy.

 

So for example, if you are motivated by your fear of gaining weight you actually want to follow or talk to someone who has failed at this approach and see what you can do better. This is called a negative role model and has to be in a position that you could realistically find yourself in the future if you happened to fail.

 

Of course, if you know someone who makes excuses or keeps giving up you shouldn’t use them a negative motivator without offering your help to improve their life. As you probably know yourself some guidance and support can go a long way.

 

Now, on the other end of the spectrum are people who aren’t terribly dissatisfied with their body, don’t have any major health issues but want to look extra good for the summer. These people do need positive role models but it still has to be someone who you can realistically emulate.

 

Family or friends who have lost weight are great because of this; world-class models not so much. Of course, it ultimately depends on where you are at the beginning of your weight loss journey.