No one always feels motivated. But we can always be disciplined.

Last week someone in my network said they’d had a revelation: “I just need to feel motivated.”

Ouch.

No.

Feelings come and go. Commitments rise above emotion. Discipline supersedes all.

Some may push back: “I need to see progress.”

You can’t always have progress, sweetheart. I think of elite athletes who slave for their sport for years to never get an iota better. Can you imagine training day in and day out for a decade and becoming slower than you used to be?

Usain Bolt’s 200m in 2009 Worlds: 19.19.
Usain Bolt's 200m in 2016 Olympics: 19.78.
His 100m in 2009: 9.58.
His 100m in 2016: 9.81.

He never got one hundredth of a second faster that whole time.

Michael Phelps’ 2016 200m butterfly 1:53.36.
In 2008 he hit 1:52.03.

Do you really think it’s motivating to grind through when you’re getting slower? Do you really think elite athletes are always motivated? Or always seeing progress? I mean, clearly they aren’t.

We don’t need to remake the wheel. If you don’t build the skill to follow-through precisely WHEN YOU DON’T FEEL LIKE IT, might as well just call the funeral home now, because you aren’t cut out for life. Work. Marriage. Relationships. Parenting. Chores. Business. Investing. Education. Life. If you are operating on “I only do this when I feel like it or when the excited whim hits me,” forget fitness. You’re better off getting your affairs in order.

No one is always feeling motivated. But everyone can be always disciplined.