It's Unreliable, Anyway

Motivation is pretty unreliable. We think it’s the magic sauce that’ll take us to the next level and carry us through to see our goals. Many of you have told me over the past several days that your motivation to workout at home is dwindling. The good news is that you don’t need it, you just need to shift your perspective.

Instead of needing motivation to workout, you need discipline.

The backwards part of this is that from discipline comes motivation.

Let’s back up and define these terms.

Discipline (verb): to train or develop by instruction and exercise especially in self-control.

Motivation (noun): the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

Motivation can be our initial push to do something. The first time you walk in the gym or the first week you’re quarantined at home and forced to workout via Zoom. The issue arises when you think that motivation is going to stick around for you. It short-term, non-lasting and unreliable. It’s finite, we can always rely on it running out, eventually. 

Whether conscious of them or not, our daily lives are built on habits that we’ve created. When motivation dwindles, it becomes more and more difficult to stick with the new habit, like working out at home. That’s where discipline comes in, and we need to learn how to harness it. We can’t just wait for motivation to come back, you’re calling for it and it isn’t going to answer the phone.

Through discipline, we can set up new rules, which will turn into habits for us to stick to. Set a time for your daily workout. Set small goals to build momentum. Habits don’t need to be epic, they can be reasonable. The point I’m trying to make: don’t wait for motivation to come back, it’s not going to. Instead, shift your perspective, find some discipline and get to work. It won’t be easy, but it’s your only option if motivation is gone.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain