How to stay motivated

How to stay motivated.

You don’t.

That’s the simple answer. You don’t stay motivated, you stay consistent.

Motivation is just a dopamine hit in the brain. It feels good. You feel driven and ready to take on anything. But like a caffeine high, it runs out and there is an inevitable crash. And if you’re unaware that it's just motivation you’re running on, you’ll blame yourself for that crash. You’ll think to yourself: “Hey, I really suck at this.” “I can’t stick to this or see it through.” “I’m so demotivated and unable to move”. Nonsense. There is nothing stopping you.

Because the fact of the matter is you’re more powerful than your need for motivation.

You are fully capable of carrying out and sticking to all the tasks needed in order to achieve your desired result. If you’re reading this blog, then those desired results are most likely fitness or health-oriented. But it doesn’t strictly need to be those. It could be learning an instrument or language. It could be studying for a course or practicing leatherwork. It could be saving money for a car, holiday, or investment. All you need is consistency. Consistency and self-discipline.

All too often, I hear people saying “I have no self-control” “I have no discipline.” I’d like to reassure such people, and yourself, dear reader, if those thoughts have infiltrated your mind, that you DO have self-discipline. Everyone has it. But not everyone uses it.

The more you use it, the stronger it gets. Like a muscle.

And with a touch of self-discipline, you build consistency. Being consistent is repeating and sticking to your task or practice over time. Going to the gym, washing up after cooking, watering your plants, going to bed on time, eating enough protein, and drinking enough water. This pays off over time.

In an age where instant gratification is the norm and there is an underlying belief in many people that they “should just have” the things they want, that can be more challenging.

Results are wanted NOW, skills should be mastered NOW, my proverbial trees should bear fruit NOW. Alas, this is not the case. And to quote the much-loved Shepard Book: “The journey is the worthier part.”

So how do we use self-discipline and implement consistency? Like anything worth getting good at, you practice…consistently.

An example is my morning routine. This forms the backbone of my consistency. When I wake up, before I check my phone or do anything else (but after I put clothes on), I get up, get my ass outside and walk a few hundred steps. The cold air (And in Finland, I assure you the air is cold) awakens and energizes me, the fresh air rejuvenates me and just moving physically uplifts me.

Walking in itself is such a good (and cheap!) mind clearer and creative boost. The physical advantage of a morning routine is that by moving and feeling the cold, I start to metabolize energy to facilitate this movement and to warm myself up. A few mornings before writing this blog, I did my morning routine in -25dc. Boy, did that trigger some metabolizing. I’m right now just in from having done one.

But on a deeper level, it is setting the precedent for the rest of the day: I'm using my self-discipline and staying consistent. I got up and did it, like every other morning. It's a breakfast of victory. And for the rest of the day, I know if I stayed consistent then, I can stay consistent anytime.

I even did it when I was on a cruise to Sweden, doing laps around the deck of the ship in a snowy, windy gale as we sailed through the Stockholm archipelago. Don't let the weather put you off – It's just a bit of wind, rain, snow, or whatever. It's only momentary. You'll survive. Learn to love it. Relish it. Because if the weather is harsher, then you can use MORE self-discipline to go. So do it.

Have an endpoint: this is a marker that you always reach. Maybe it's a lap of your house, maybe it's a streetlight or another noticeable feature. For me, it's a signpost. Never go a shorter distance. Because if you let yourself do a shorter distance, you will let that distance get shorter again and again and again until your morning routine is just your front door.

"But I'm not motivated to do this and that, I just can't."

Really? There is nothing physically stopping you. If I put a gun to your head and said do it, you'd find the motivation. I'm not going to do that; I prefer positive reinforcement. But it remains the same. You're capable, and your body obeys you.

Now, this is good news. It means that what you believed to be inhibiting you (a lack of motivation on command) was always psychosomatic. You have the ability to bypass that need and do what you want and need to do anyway. Yes, maybe you're reading this feeling disappointed, hoping that I was going to be telling you how to have that constant motivation high. Because motivation feels good. But there is no way to maintain it constantly. Athletes and successful people don't stick at it and achieve because they're motivated. It's because they're consistent.

It's not as hard as you might think. There will be daily examples of you doing things consistently and using your self-discipline. You most probably brush your teeth twice a day. You pay your rent or mortgage each month. You go and buy groceries. You do these things consistently. There were likely times when you were much younger that you had to be encouraged or really put thought into completing these tasks. Yet here you are now, doing it automatically.

Likewise with using your self-discipline. I imagine you wait until your food is cooked before you eat it. I also think you get up and go to work instead of just calling in sick. You probably also take your bins out when needed. You’ve overcome your want to do the opposite and now done what’s needed.

Now you can magnify those and apply them elsewhere. How? As discussed before, with practice. With a morning routine, yes, but also starting small with other things. For a start, begin to self-identify. You ARE disciplined and you ARE consistent. Maybe you’ve been led to believe you aren't. Someone might have said something to the effect of: "You have no self-control". And you internalized it and repeated it with your inner voice until you believed it. Our thoughts are very powerful. And then every time you’ve not used self-discipline or been inconsistent, that inner voice chirps up, identifying with being undisciplined or inconsistent. And like all things, if you internalize it and identify with it, you’ll believe it.

But it isn’t the case. You can break the chains you’ve bound yourself in, dear reader.

Start by reminding yourself that you do possess self-discipline and ARE capable of using it. And you can use it to be consistent. You are disciplined. You can think of times you’ve exhibited self-discipline.

At the end of the day, blaming a lack of motivation is just an excuse. And, harsh as that may sound, it’s actually a liberating truth. Because the fewer excuses you make to yourself, the more you can take action. It isn’t there to hold you back anymore. So, you decide which you would prefer: An excuse or a result.

Maybe you and I have met, maybe we haven’t. Regardless, dear reader, I can confidently assure you that you can overcome any need for motivation and use your self-discipline. I know it. And hopefully after reading this, you now know it too.

Kjartan

If you want to learn more way to develop your self-discipline and be consistent then go to the blog entry: “What you need most is something you already have.”

For more help building and using self-discipline, developing a kickass, self loving lifestyle as well as getting into a physical condition that will change the way you feel and see yourself, go to the ‘services’ or ‘inquires’ section of the website and fill out the consultation form.

If you’d like a ‘try before you buy’ go ahead and do the ‘free analysis and first five steps’ in which you get exactly that: a free analysis of your needs, situation and goals and then five steps on how to progress to that sent directly to you from me.