Motivation Is Never Enough...There's Something Better

I made a goal to go running outside for the first time this year. 

That was a few weeks ago. 

I felt motivated. Excited even. But then Saturday came and all I wanted to do was sit in bed or watch TV. 

“If only I felt more motivated,” I told myself, “then I’d go.” 

My WHYs: I’m turning 40 this year and want to prove to myself that I can be in the best shape of my life. I want to show my beautiful wife that I care so much about her that I’m willing to care for myself…while giving her more love in my heart and maybe less love handles on my hips. I want to be able to run around with my kids and finally sign up to play on a soccer team again. 

I thought these WHYs were big enough to overcome any HOW. 

So why wasn’t I outside running yet?

The answer was simple.

I didn’t really want to. That’s it, and it’s actually totally normal.

Our brains seek pleasure and avoid pain and discomfort. Running isn’t comfortable. Sleeping in a warm bed is. If we're waiting until we WANT to leave a warm bed to run, we'll be waiting forever.

But this last week I learned there’s something even stronger, and more needed, than motivation. 

Discipline.

To get in a humble and coachable state of mind, I did what all cool, almost-40-year-old men do and threw out my back. Like, “I’ve fallen and can’t get up” threw it out. 

After whining about the pain and how I'm officially getting old, I started noticing and appreciating how amazing the human body is. In awe, I realized how wonderful it is that we can move. Earth bodies are incredible!

Gratitude filled my heart each time my wife would gingerly lift my legs to get out of the car, or my son would bring me a glass of water. 

Then it hit me; I knew why I wasn’t running yet. 

Motivation is fleeting, and it’s twin brother, “willpower”, is like struggling to hold a beach ball underwater. Before long, it comes shooting back up. The force to come up is always eventually stronger than my desire to keep it down.  

Just like my desire to seek pleasure or what feels good is usually stronger than my desire to resist feeling pain and discomfort. 

But what if I didn’t have to want to run? 

What if I didn’t rely on my will-power to get me out the door? 

What if instead, we realized that right before we do almost anything worth doing, we probably won’t want to? …and do it anyway!

Instead of waiting to want to, I use that motivation to propel me to commit to being disciplined.

Right then and there, I committed to being disciplined enough to work out every day and made the goal that on Saturday, I’d go for a 5 mile run without stopping. 

But this time, I prepared myself that when I didn’t feel like doing it, which I probably wouldn’t in the moment, that I’m the type of person who does it anyway. 

Discipline beets motivation.

And like clockwork, when the time came to go, I realized it was completely normal to not want to put my running shoes on, but put them on anyway. It was completely normal to not want to go out the door, but I went out anyway.

Why? 

Because I'm committed and discipline beats motivation. I focused on choosing to believe thoughts like, "I’m the type of person who is disciplined" and "I can do hard things." Those beliefs propelled me to feel committed. And while feeling committed, I went for one of the most enjoyable 5-mile runs, all without stopping. 

Granted I ran at a snail's 10-minute pace, but shoot, I still ran. And right now, I'm celebrating progress and not perfection. This was one of the first times I truly enjoyed running...when I wasn't chasing a ball; I even had several times during the run when I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I was so grateful that I once again had a body that could move, and gratitude is way more enjoyable than being powered by guilt.

As I ran, the most wonderful sense of accomplishment filled my soul. What was most interesting was that the motivation actually came AFTER I started running. 

I didn’t feel motivated and only then took action. No, I took action while feeling committed, and then was blessed to feel more motivated. 

And when I wanted to stop, like after every mile, I simply repeated to myself, “I committed to keep going,” and that’s what I did. 

After finishing, I snapped this picture since I didn’t want to forget this experience. I didn’t want to forget how great it felt to have my own back in doing what I said I would do.

Motivation still has its place, and I continue to dream big dreams and come up with big WHYs, but I’m learning to use that motivation to get to a point of feeling committed and disciplined. 

When I feel committed and disciplined, there’s nothing I can’t accomplish. And all those negative emotions of fear, discomfort and even pain, those feelings are just part of the path to success. 

I’m willing to feel all the feels since that’s the currency to reach my dreams. 

Whether it’s starting to get back into shape, writing your book or doing that extra load of laundry, how will you use discipline to reach your next goal today?