You have probably noticed that it’s hard to be motivated all the time.
No matter what you are working on in life, there are bound to be days when you don’t feel like showing up. There will be workouts that you don’t feel like starting. There will be reports that you don’t feel like writing.

There will be responsibilities that you don’t feel like handling. And there will be “off days” when your energy and emotions are in the gutter.

We look for something to motivate us but there are problems with this motivation thing.

The problem is what motivates each of us changes from day to day – what got us moving today may not do a darned thing tomorrow.

Motivation is fleeting
Motivation comes and goes however it wants. It might not last to the end of the week or even to the end of the day. It’s fleeting.

Motivation is situational
Motivation is based on your current situation. How do you feel? If you don’t feel like doing it, then you’re off the hook.

You don’t have to do it – because you don’t feel like it! But then you don’t do it and you just feel worse and more stuck than ever.

Motivation is everywhere.
Everywhere you go, you see people trying to get motivated to do something, to make a life change.  They’ll go read something, watch something or attend a conference and come away “motivated.”

But that only leaves them “motivated”, it doesn’t move them to action. “I’m motivated to do this”. “I’m motivated to do that”.

Yeah well, stop being motivated and just DO IT already!

You don’t need more motivation – you need discipline.

One of the biggest problems people face is the lack of discipline — they have goals or habits they want to achieve, but lack that discipline needed to stick with it. Then we beat ourselves up about it. We feel crappy because we can’t stick with it.

And that leads to more failure, because we’re forming a mindset that we don’t have the necessary discipline.

But discipline is a whole different animal.

Discipline is Consistent
The consistency of discipline is what makes it discipline. You go out and do it, regularly.

Discipline Is Habitual
Discipline doesn’t just “happen.” It’s intentional and it’s repeated. Every. Single. Day.

Discipline Is Rare
Discipline doesn’t sound like fun, but it’s how you see results.

Motivation is the start, but if it’s not solidified into a discipline, it usually fades away into regret pretty quickly once you realize you never acted on it.

Motivation and discipline are both about getting things done.

•    Motivation is emotional, we do something when we “feel” like it.
To be motivated, I act after I FEEL.  Motivation is REACTIVE, based on circumstances.  If you exist in a motivation mind-set, someone or something else is always controlling you.

•    Discipline is intellectual, we do something because it’s a good idea or its important to our health and wellbeing like an exercise session.

Discipline is PROACTIVE, based on the goals, and the will of the individual.  It is internal, and if you exist in a discipline mind-set, you control yourself. 

Motivation and self-discipline work hand in hand 

Motivation can be your initial inspiration.  When you lose your initial inspiration, self-discipline can help keep you going.   To commit to self-discipline, it’s your initial motivation that says it’s worth it. The principal of discipline is about self-determination and a striving to achieve your personal goals whether you feel like doing it today or not.

Motivation is powerful, and has its place, but it is fleeting and unsustainable. Discipline is powerful because it is sustainable, and its power grows the longer it is sustained.

If you wait to feel like doing something that is hard, you likely never will.  If you do something anyway because you know it will help you, eventually the results it gives you will make you feel like continuing.

Make motivation and discipline easier for yourself by eliminating your excuses before they happen.

First, identify the habits that are holding you back from accomplishing your fitness or health goals.  Habits, always come in predicable patterns, so look for and identify them so you can create a predictable pattern to overcome the negative old habits and create new positive ones.

So, if you find that you are lapsing with your exercise program or healthy eating plan, just ask yourself, ‘Is this going to get me the results that I want?”  Or “Is this taking me closer toward my goal or further away from it?”

Think about what could possibly derail you and plan a strategy to stop it happening. The more we can counter these challenges the better at it we will get at working around them. Everybody gets them; nobody has it easy all of the time.  I personally have the same issues and challenges like everybody else does and I have to keep working at it too.

Discipline helps you consistently take action.  And you don’t need to put yourself through military boot camp or train in the martial arts to get it.  Following the basic tenets of starting small, exercising and reserving your will, and courting the uncomfortable will take you far in building discipline.

The good news is, this whole motivation/discipline thing does get easier with practice. When you exercise consistently, you gradually fill up your discipline stores as you understand what makes you tick and what gets you moving.

The more you practice, the better you will get and you will realize your actions are what generate that feeling you have been searching for all along – that internal motivation. Its like a mouse on a wheel, it just keeps going faster.

If you can make exercise a habit, you are that much closer to making it easier to do. It helps to have a regular day and time you workout so that, once that time comes, you know it’s time to get yourself busy and get going.

Sometimes it means digging deep to find that thing – that thought, feeling, goal, reward, whatever, that gets us moving. Your decision to exercise and be strong and fit isn’t a decision you make once – it is one you make every single day and will always make.

But once you make the decision and stick with it, it creates a huge feeling of relief within you. And then you know “I can do this”.

Proper exercise is one of the most important things you can do in your life for your own self care. It affects how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. It affects how you look, how you function and contributes to your quality of life. It is never too late to start and the sooner you start the sooner you will reap the many benefits.

Give yourself something easy to aim for

Choose an obtainable doable goal as the problem often lies with the grandeur of our goals. When we make goals that are so different from our current life style, we find it difficult to incorporate these goals without a radical overhaul in our day-to-day life.  For example, just start with one visit to the gym each week then when you have got that cemented into your life add another and so on.

This might happen over many months until you arrive at a level that is right for you. If you fall off the wagon go back to the beginning and start over. It’s that simple.

If you try and go 4 times a week you might last for a few weeks or months at the most but sooner or later it will become too much too soon. Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts at the top.

You can spend the rest of your time getting your small healthy meals prepared and ready each day to take with you if you leave your house.

Think of your plan for improved fitness as a part-time job. Study up on the information that will help you do a great job and develop the skills to do it right.  Continue to work on how to develop a higher level of discipline and motivation. Don’t cancel your workouts any quicker than you would not turn up at work or skip a date with a friend.

Success is a year-round choice. You must decide what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it. What you look like in six months is up to what you do today.  So go for it – and remember how good it feels each time you work out, and how good it makes you feel about yourself!

The formula is a simple one…Discipline  + Action = Success.

For more tools and resources from Carolyn Hansen to assist you in attaining your goals and achieving the success you desire in life, please visit:

CarolynHansenFitness.com

You can train yourself for success or you can train yourself for failure, so, be your own coach and get yourself going.