You really don't need motivation

Everyone has dreams. A few pursue them and some hope “one day” they will. So what’s the difference between the achievers and the non-achievers? What has impeded you and me from attaining our goals, despite knowing that we’re capable enough to do so?

Perhaps the excuses we’ve been making for ourselves without acknowledging the fact that they’re excuses? Or our inability to focus, just like a child with ADHD? Or is it because you and I are chronic procrastinators? Because we just don’t “feel like it” sometimes so we leave off what we’ve started and forget about it until we’re impelled to restart again.

Whatever it is, we often attempt to use motivation as a method of inspiring us towards pursuing our goals by attending talks, reading motivational books, quotes and listening to motivational video. If you fall under this cohort, I’d like to kindly bring it to your attention that you and I have been doing it wrong.

It’s not motivation that you really need, its discipline. The thing with this overly used word, ‘motivation’, is that it uses emotional state to get you moving and as humans our emotions have the tendency to betray us. This is why we go through periods of not “feeling like it” and we simply don’t pursue.

 So when you go around seeking motivation to fight that feeling, you do indeed get energized enough to get you started. Because you expect to feel that way after performing that certain motivational ritual, you do end up “feeling like it”. Kind of like the placebo effect, really. Unfortunately, that feel doesn’t last long and the same formula you used before will stop being effective after sometime. Starting is easy, continuation is the tricky part.

Whilst motivation is what will induce movement of the wheel, it is discipline that will keep the wheel moving. Self-discipline is what you should be really looking for when you’re trying to make the journey from your actual self to your ideal self or even your ought self.

We often tend to orient towards things that make us feel comfortable. This is why when we don’t feel like doing things, the thought of doing it brings us discomfort. But it’s the discomfort that we should actually be pursuing. Yes, self-discipline comes with pain. Embrace the pain. Remember, success is found outside our comfort zone.

Discipline, when strongly instilled, will keep you going whether you’re in the mood or not and no matter how painfully boring the task is. It’s what will keep you focused and inoculate you against distractions and procrastination. You instantly become very conscious of time.

 The feeling of enthusiasm we often naively assume that we need in order to take action is often the product of action taken when is discipline is instilled, albeit the emotional state. In other words, motivation will always be elicited when discipline becomes habitual. Read that again.

The most successful people in this world did not achieve their success through their intellectual abilities and motivation alone. Their success was achieved through a combination of self-efficacy and strict discipline that translated into focus, persistence, perseverance and tenacity.

Whether you’re aspiring to achieve small goals or make history, I suggest you get your discipline checked. Learn to have discipline if you don’t have it. Self-discipline is what will give you the freedom you need to attain the life you want. I really wish I knew that myself years ago.