Newsflash: motivation sucks. You can't rely upon it. How many times have you needed to get something done, and you didn’t feel the motivation to make it happen? If you’re anything like me, that’s a daily occurrence.
I imagine motivation as a fickle lover; it's great and exciting when she is in town, but don't count on her being there tomorrow. Motivation will pack its bags and leave you without warning. And when motivation leaves us, our goals crumble, our dreams expire, and obstacles seem insurmountable. We quit, because they don't feel motivated to continue.
Motivation leaving you in the night... again. (image credit)
Discussions of motivation and how to maintain motivation are popular topics. There are entire economies, like the motivational speaking and self-help book industries, that are built around the idea of keeping people topped up on motivation. Yet, if motivation is so important, why is that we have such a hard time feeling motivated?
Why don't we feel motivated?
To me, it is not surprising that motivation comes and goes. Motivation has an emotional component to it. It is a feeling, and feelings are fleeting. Do you always feel happy? Do you always feel sad, angry, or jealous? While it is true that we can allow emotions to captivate us for long periods of time - such as during experiences of prolonged happiness or anger - we tend to feel many emotions that come and go quite quickly.
Therefore, if motivation has a strong emotional component to it, why would anyone be surprised when motivation suddenly leaves us? It's like any other emotion that comes and goes. And furthermore, if you rely upon your fluctuating motivation to dictate your actions, how can you be consistent?
You need something that can carry you through the times when your motivation has left you high and dry. You need to forget about your ex-lover motivation, and cozy up to your new best friend: Discipline.
Discipline
If motivation is a fickle lover that can abandon you at any time, discipline is a loyal Labrador Retriever. Discipline will be there the morning after motivation leaves you. Discipline will be there for you when times are good or bad. Simply put, discipline rocks! It is the stable and reliable source of energy that you can draw upon to enact change in your life.
Discipline is a loyal friend (image credit)
Discipline can be defined as the practice of learning to obey rules or following a code of behavior. Discipline is not an emotion, it is a set of actions that you can follow no matter what your mental state is. As you develop discipline, it grows stronger, and you are more difficult to throw off course.
If you rely upon motivation, and you have a crappy day, you might not make it to the gym. But when you rely upon discipline, you can turn on your scripted behaviours and get to the gym, despite a lack of motivation.
Some of you are realizing at this point that you don't have discipline in your life and you’re not sure how to develop it. Fair enough! I was lost on where to start when I first realized the true value of discipline.
Don't worry. I’ll teach you how to begin to develop discipline.
How do I Develop Discipline?
The easiest way to begin to develop strong discipline is to create a morning routine. The morning routine is the perfect place to start, because it means you will begin everyday in a disciplined fashion. And by starting your day in this regimented way, it will remind you that you are aiming to develop a disciplined life style.
Your discipline in the AM... (image credit)
This morning routine can consist of just about anything. It can be an hour long, or just five minutes. It can involve exercise, writing, meditation, whatever. It doesn’t really matter. The point of a morning routine is that you commit to a task that you promised yourself that you would do, and you do it. Rain or shine. No excuses.
On the good days, you'll get through this no problem. On the difficult days, this will be a challenge. You can still be gentle with yourself, practice compassion, and honour your emotions, but you coax yourself through your morning routine, no matter what your mental state is. If you picked something too ambitious to start, dial back the intensity. Find something that you can commit to, and start there.
This is my morning routine:
- Wake up and make my bed
- Meditate while my coffee brews
- Write at least 200 words in my journal and reflect upon life
- Read my personal definition of success
- Revisit my list of goals and check off any accomplishments that I achieved yesterday
I do this everyday, no matter what. I've done this routine with glee while I dance around my apartment. But I've also done this while crying bitter tears the day after a breakup. I complete this routine when I feel motivated, and I complete this routine when motivation fails me. I perform this routine without fail, because my discipline is loyal and never abandons me. And these days, I’m not interested in rekindling a love affair with motivation.
Design something that works for you, and commit to this routine. As your discipline grows, it will become easier to find ways of weaving discipline into the rest of your day.
In Conclusion...
The emphasis we place on motivation is not warranted. Motivation is an emotional high that we can't expect to always have with us. It would be like expecting ourselves to always be happy, and that's just not sustainable. It would pay to remember that motivation is that exciting lover that can leave us in the night. Enjoy motivation while it's here, but don't cling to it, unless you want to be disappointed.
Shift your focus to discipline. Discipline can never be taken from you, unless you choose to abandon it. Like a loyal dog, the more attention and training you put into your sense of discipline, the more discipline will serve you when you need it.
Thank you for reading!
Do you have a morning routine? How do you currently practice discipline? Is motivation more important than I made it out to be? Comment below and let's discuss motivation and discipline together.
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