Motivation is cheap

Motivation is not enough because it is ephemeral in nature as it can never last. If you are looking to kill it in life, you need to stop looking for motivation, and start looking for a fuel source that will last a tad bit longer. Discipline is what makes or breaks people, it is the great divider between the haves and the have nots, the greats, and the forgotten. Motivation is cheap because it is common, anyone can be motivated it does not take lots of energy to be motivated by a goal or an idea, but it does take energy to do the necessary work. We always hear people talking about how they need to find ‘motivation’, we never hear anyone talking about how they need to find ‘discipline’, and this here is the fundamental error.

The Obsessive will inherit the Earth

Discipline is doing what you need to do everyday rain or shine, Christmas day or even on your birthday. It is a relentless loyalty to the grind. To many people the persistence that stems from discipline might seem to be ‘unhealthy’, or ‘obsessive’ , remember that normal people are ordinary, to be extraordinary you need to do ‘extra’ work, you need to become obsessive. Doing the same amount of work that everyone else is doing is going to give you the same results that everyone else has, if you are ready to take it to the next level, you need to increase your discipline dramatically.

How to build discipline

Building discipline is done by forming the right core habits that are going to advance you in accomplishing what ever goal you have set. Building habits is done so that we do not have to rely solely on willpower to get things done. Willpower is a limited resource and runs out throughout the day as we face the challenges of life, this phenomenon has been referred to as ‘ego depletion’. Taking out the trash requires willpower, fulfilling your responsibilities at work requires will power, even cooking food requires will power. You can not hope to accomplish the huge amounts of things you will need to do in order to reach your goals solely on will power! You are only human.

Habits are the key because they do not require the expenditure of a lot of will power, once we form a new habit the task becomes a faculty of the subconscious mind, and will not tax our will power! You will find yourself doing the necessary actions for your success habitually if you can mange to form the right habits. Do you have to expend a lot of willpower to brush your teeth or take a shower everyday? I hope not, in the same way that you handle these day by day activities, you will handle your most important objectives. Once you form the core habits needed to accomplish your goals, your success will be inevitable, it will just be a waiting game from then on.

Stick with it

If you are going to promote your business, and your success requires that you get enough traffic to your website, perhaps you will try form the core habit of marketing your services everyday first thing in the morning. If you wish to eat healthy perhaps you will form the habit of meal prep-ing your food every Sunday, in order to insure that you do not cheat on your diet. If you wish to master the guitar, maybe you will commit yourself to playing for at least one hour every day. The point is you need to find the things that will most directly influence your success, and you need to invest all your will power into trying to make them a habit.

The first 30-40 days will be hell, but as long as you understand that it will get easier, and that you are investing into your long term success you should be able to stick with it. I promise you that once these crucial things become habits, you will start seeing results quickly. People will start wondering how you stay so ‘motivated’, not understanding that you have something far greater than motivation under your belt, you have the lethal weapon that is discipline.