The 2012 Olympics started this weekend, and many were surprised by Michael Phelps’ coming 4th in the 400m relay. Equally shocking was Usain Bolt coming second to Yohan Blake at the Olympic Trials a month ago.
Both men are incredible athletes in their prime and world-record holders in their sports. But after watching their recent performances, many wonder (1, 2) if they’ve been partying too much and training too little lately.
That’s how life works. It doesn’t matter if you’re a regular guy or a one-in-a-billion talent; if you aren’t continuously driven to be successful at what you do, you lose. Motivation is everything.
But how do you the fire within? How do you find and maintain the motivation to kick ass at everything you do?
Since I’m a naturally lazy person, I love techniques that keep me enthusiastic and driven. Here are some of my favorites; 5 ways to make motivation a habit.
Eyes On The Prize
Here’s one of my favorite stories, told by Jim Carrey on the Oprah Winfrey show in 1997:
“I wrote myself a check for ten million dollars for acting services rendered and dated it Thanksgiving 1995… just before Thanksgiving 1995, I found out I was going to make ten million dollars for Dumb & Dumber. I put that check in the casket with my father because it was our dream together.”
We often become unmotivated because the intense desire for our final goal gets lost in the everyday struggle. That’s why keeping your eyes on the prize like Jim Carrey did is such a great way to stay enthusiastic.
Personally, I meditate on the things I want to achieve every morning. You can do that or keep a written reminder; it doesn’t matter. Just keep reminding yourself of what you want and you’ll feel compelled to work hard.
Reward Yourself
In The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell states that mastery in any given field requires 10,000 hours of practice. You may not want to go that far, but the book’s message is true: long-term consistency is key to success.
But how do you find the strength to remain consistent week in, week out? What do you do when you really don’t feel motivated to do anything?
The answer is simple: reward yourself for taking action!
Here’s a personal example. I get fat fast, so I don’t eat junk food or sweets. But if I make it to the gym on a tough day, I reward myself by having whatever I want before or after the workout.
Apply the same concept to your life. Every time you do something hard (but necessary), reward yourself. Eventually, your brain will learn to link pleasure with consistency and motivation will become a habit.
Use Your Pain
When I was 16, I weighed 200 pounds (90 kg) and stood at 170 cm; in other words, I was obese. I hated sports, sweating and being outside; I preferred cake.
One day, I decided I’d had enough. I took up sports and changed my diet, losing over 45 pounds in a year. Guess what kept me going then and keeps me going now?
Knowing how much it sucks to be fat.
I know that no workout, no new sport will be as bad as feeling bloated and unhealthy. There is nothing you can do to keep me out of the gym because I’m genuinely terrified of being fat again!
Check out my article on harnessing your pain and use it to keep yourself motivated, especially when you reach your goals and become tempted to let up.
Keep A Diary Of Successes
The road to any worthwhile goal is long and hard. It’s tempting to despair and give up when you stumble. To stay positive and driven, keep a diary of all the successes and positive experiences you get on your journey.
You got to the gym although you only slept 2 hours last night? Write it down.
You talked to a girl even though you were scared to death? Write it down.
You went out alone and had fun talking to strangers? Write it down.
By focusing on the upsides of taking action, you’ll teach your brain to link action with pleasure – and boost your self-esteem as well.
Enforce Discipline
Every time you force yourself to do something, you use your finite resources of willpower and motivation. No matter how excited you are about your goals, you‘ll eventually get tired of making hard decisions and taking right action.
A cool way to save your willpower for when it matters is discipline.
When I started working out, every visit to the gym was a challenge. But since I’ve been doing it for years, it’s something I now do automatically. I don’t need to be motivated before going to the gym; it’s just a habit, like brushing my teeth.
You might think that discipline makes life hard. Nothing could be more wrong. Discipline makes difficult things easy and is a great way to stay motivated without burning out.
Like I said earlier, I’m a very lazy person by nature. I’ve used these techniques to keep myself and my students motivated throughout the years; I hope you find them useful.
Leave a comment and share your own thoughts on motivation – or your results from using the exercises in this post.
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Here are two additional methods:
1. Remove barriers. Want to lose weight and go to the gym? Don’t keep fattening foods in the house and tell yourself you’ll just have “a little”. Don’t put your gym clothes in a place you can’t see them. Keep them somewhere you’ll have to stumble over them when getting out of bed.
2. Break goals into small manageable chunks. If I tell myself I’ll write for two hours, I never get started. If I tell myself I’ll write for 15 minutes I start and before I realize two hours go by.