Discipline, not motivation
I didn’t want to go for a run today. It was grey outside, the wind was fairly strong and I wasn’t having a good day at work.
I really, really wanted a nap at lunchtime. But out I went, not because I was motivated, but because I had discipline.
My routine, my consistency, my principles would all break down if I didn’t have the discipline to maintain them. Most days are a fight with the small part of your brain that says “I don’t wanna!”.
As the holy month of self-improvement (January) ends, any lasting committed resolutions will need to be stuck to through thick and thin, even when everything feels like garbage and there are far easier ways of getting that dopamine hit. So, my advice is: it’s okay to not feel motivated. Do you think the people who have trodden the path before you were always taking firm steps, becoming more enamoured with their goal in a monotonically increasing way? Of course not!
But I belabour the point. I went out today and I saw some ducks and birds and in that moment I realised that even if my legs felt terrible, everything was going to be alright. And I will go out and do it again.