Here is a common question that I get asked. How I get motivated to do…?
My answer is simple. You don’t.
You don’t need motivation to do anything.
Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes as it pleases. It may last an hour, a day, or a year, but it won’t last forever.
Instead of wanting to become more motivated, you should want to become more disciplined.
Discipline is the ability to exert your willpower to do the things you must do.
Discipline destroys motivation any day.
How do you become more disciplined?
First, start by doing the things that you know you need to do.
If you need to stick to a diet, stop buying junk food.
If you want to start working out, then start by working out.
If you want to be a kinder person, then start being kinder to people.
Discipline starts when you take complete control over your life and rely on yourself to get things done. In other words, motivation is external, discipline is internal to you.
Second, start doing more things that you don’t want to do.
Why?
Because you are strengthening your willpower muscle by using it to override your instincts to avoid things you dislike.
End your warm shower with one minute of ice cold water.
Go for a jog when it is very hot or cold outside.
Don’t eat when you first feel hungry – fast for a few more hours.
By doing hard things that you dislike doing, everything else becomes easier to do without motivation.
There are two simple ways to become more disciplined:
1. Do the things you need to do
2. Do the things you don’t want to do
There are no hacks, no shortcuts to becoming more disciplined.
But once you are there, you no longer need motivation to get things done.