One of the misconceptions out there regarding our health and fitness is that you need to be motivated to get to the gym. Or motivated to eat healthy. And then on those days you don’t “feel” motivated, that becomes the excuse as to why it doesn’t get done. You hear a lot of this kind of rhetoric going around when it comes to, not just health and fitness, but also when it comes to just about anything else in life. We think we need motivation to get things done so what do we do? We sit around a wait for motivation to show up. We wait for our feeling to change. We watch social media videos to get us pumped up. We rely on friends and family to whip us into shape with some “rah rah go get’em” speech. When in reality, that’s not it at all. I’m about to say something that might ruffle some sensitive feathers, and I’m okay with that. Ready?
Motivation is absolute crap! It’s one of the biggest lies and myths out there today. And believing and relying on this lie is what can hinder a lot of goals. And not just in health and fitness. But for the sake of this particular blog, we’ll focus on just that. Today’s culture has bought into the lie that we need to wait until we feel motivated before doing something. Anything. Going to the gym, eating healthy, dropping old habits that aren’t helpful, picking up new ones that are. Not only is this motivation thing not true, but it can ruin a person’s life. And here’s why.
If you sit around and wait until you “feel” like doing something, you’ll be sitting there for a long time. Our culture today is so wrapped up in “feelings” rather than teaching the importance of doing the right thing regardless of how we feel. I can tell you from personal experience how true this is. This is something that we have to fight every single day. (Myself included) Because it’s a choice. Every. Single. Day. And that’s where discipline comes in. We have often made the mistake of thinking that motivation and discipline are the same thing, when in fact they are very different. It’s very easy to tell them apart.
It’s all an illusion!
Motivation is completely reliant on our “feelings.” While Discipline says, “regardless of how I may feel, I will choose to do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do.” Motivation says “I don’t feel like it,” “I’m not in the mood,” “I don’t really want to.” Motivation will make up every excuse in the book. It will make you feel comfortable and safe. While Discipline says, “I don’t feel like it, but I’m doing it anyway,” “I’m not really in the mood, but this is what I do now, regardless of my mood,” “ I set a goal for myself and I am choosing to see it through.”
Motivation will keep you in your comfort zone. It will lie to you and get you to break promises that were made. It will keep you docile and tame. Most importantly, it will keep you from becoming the very best version of yourself. I know this all too well because I’ve been there myself. It’s a horrible feeling knowing that you are not all that you could be simply because of the choices that you make.
Motivation will make you sacrifice your future for the comfort of now. Discipline will require that you sacrifice the comfort of now for your future and better self. It’s simply a choice. Which one will you choose?
If you really think about it, do you hire a personal fitness trainer to help get you motivated to workout or do you hire them to teach you how to work out? Do you hire them to teach you how to motivate yourself or to help you become more disciplined? In my opinion, a good fitness trainer will do all the above, in one way shape or form.
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