You Don’t Need Motivation. You Need Discipline

You’ve heard it before. You’ve definitely thought it before: ‘I’m just not motivated’, ‘I can’t find the motivation’, ‘I wish I had the motivation’. 

Motivation can come from external sources like a speech or example of others or internal sources like an idea. Wherever they come from, they inspire a meaningful goal that triggers dopamine which creates the urge to do something which is what we call motivation. 

The reality is that moments of motivation are typically short, with research showing that motivation fades almost instantly with more than a fifty percent drop in the first few days. This is why we can’t lose those pounds, learn that skill or finish that article we’ve been wanting to.

To really accomplish things and boost your quality of life, you don’t need motivation; you need discipline. 

If motivation is the speedy rabbit that tires out, discipline is the consistent turtle that eventually wins the race. Discipline will get you far more success in whatever you want than motivation will. While people sit around waiting for motivation, your discipline will consistently move you closer to your goals.

Think of discipline as doing something that you aren’t necessarily excited about, but you know that it will be good for ‘future you’. You are giving a gift to your future self. 

Unlike motivation, we can establish discipline in a stronger, longer lasting way by hacking our brains. One of the great things about our brain is that the more we experience something, the better we get at it. This is called neuroplasticity and explains how we are able to learn a language, instrument or other skill. We cannot pickup a guitar and play a song but with repetitive experience or practice, we can improve.

Discipline is a skill, and with practice, we can get really good at it. Here are a few ways to build discipline.

• When scrolling on your phone, give yourself a time (either a specific time or an amount of time) and put the phone down when the time is up.

• When snacking, tell yourself that you are going to have a limited number of bites and put the snack away when you reach that amount.

• Set a small goal (stretching, steps, pushups) that you have to do before the next activity

The idea is to set a small, measurable (so you know if you did it or not) goal and do it. 

• Eat 5 more chips and put the bag away. Create discipline.

• Put the phone down after 10 minutes. Create discipline.

• Do the dishes before watching TV. Create discipline.

A key component of discipline is repetition despite failure or forgetting, so look at failed or missed moments as a good thing because it creates a small inconvenience that you can overcome - this strengthens discipline.

Every time you pick a small task that part of you doesn’t want to do but you do it anyway, you are strengthening discipline muscle. It’s supposed to be inconvenient but doable. Discipline is not just a proactive tool to start something new. The skill can help limit the impact that stress can have on us.

There is a reason why new research shows that people with a higher developed ‘discipline cortex’ in their brain, live longer. It has to do with ability to do things that help us, limit things what hurts us and bounce back quicker. We cannot always predict or prepare for a sleepless night, busy schedule or sudden change in life but discipline strengthens the foundation, so when a storm comes, we can shake but not break. We can withstand and not be left in turmoil. On our busiest, hardest days, the discipline to take care of ourselves by going to bed early, having that glass of water or going for a 10 minute walk can be the difference between a hard couple of days, a hard couples months and a hard couple years.