Maeby Today

Have you ever excused yourself from working toward your goals because you were lacking motivation? Have you ever lamented that you couldn’t find the motivation to do something? Be it your homework, housework, or actual work – people are constantly complaining that they don’t have any motivation to be productive. We tend to allow ourselves reprieve, as if the motivation is just going to return to us tomorrow and we won’t have lost anything for losing the day.

I hate to break it to you, guys, but motivation is a myth.

Let me say it again for the people at the back: MOTIVATION IS A MYTH!

Motivation is little more than an excuse. ‘Lacking motivation’ is just a more acceptable phrase for being lazy. It’s a crutch and it is crippling your ability to reach your goals. So, let’s strike notions of motivation from our minds – motivation is not a reality. Stop acting like it is.

A good friend of mine will post progress on her journey to achieving her goals. She has been in the army, a bikini competitor, has graduated from the fire academy, attended drill sergeant school – all while being a petite little girl who often had to turn criticism into fuel when it would have been easier to say ‘they’re right; I can’t”. When she posts on her social media, I often see people comment and say, “I wish I had your motivation!” – to which Sara will almost inevitably say something along the lines of “I’m not motivated. I’m determined.” To be honest, my favorite response she has ever given to people has been “motivation is bullshit”.

Sara, like many great athletes or successes in other fields, knows the truth to success is in the triple D: Determination, Dedication, Discipline.

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” – Mario Andretti

“I’ve always found that anything worth achieving will always have obstacles in the way and you’ve got to have that drive and determination to overcome those obstacles on route to whatever it is that you want to accomplish.” – Chuck Norris

Motivation is that fleeting rush of adrenaline you get after hearing someone like Eric Thomas pump you up. But if you walk away from watching ET speak and don’t commit yourself to changing your lifestyle, it doesn’t mean anything. And it never will.

Determination is seeing the obstacles in front of you and refusing to allow them to slow you down. It is understanding that the path will be difficult and that you aren’t going to like the journey all the time, but committing yourself to doing it anyway. Determination hears criticism and negativity and uses it as fuel instead of letting it discourage.

Dedication is waking up every morning and committing yourself all over again to the hard work required to progress toward your goals.

Discipline is going to the gym when you’d rather sleep another couple of hours or drinking a protein drink when your friends are eating pizza. It is writing at least a thousand words every day when you feel like you can’t write even one. It is doing things you don’t have ‘motivation’ to do, because life begins outside of your comfort zone.

“In reading the lives of great men, I found that the first victory they won was over themselves? self-discipline with all of them came first.” – Harry S. Truman

These three things are what carry you when motivation is non-existent. We can’t obtain our goals by making excuses; we have to make sacrifices. We have to be determined to leave our comfort zones and put in the hard work required. The moment we allow ourselves to rely solely on ‘motivation’ is the moment we’ve decided our goals aren’t that important.

If you have a dream for yourself and you’re sitting there under the weight of not being motivated enough to work toward it, maybe you should ask yourself if you really even want it that badly. If you do – get to work. Motivation is bullshit.

“People do not lack strength, they lack will.” –  Victor Hugo