Fit for Life: Motivation Doesn’t Work

Fit for Life: Motivation Doesn’t Work

As I write this article, I am on a plane en route to another self-development / leadership conference called “The High-Performance Business Summit”.

While there I am hoping to not only learn a few new leadership & business techniques but to polish up and sharpen some of the skills I already possess.

I attend a minimum of 5 conferences per year, and although you may be thinking “why do you need to attend so many conferences?”.   My reasoning is leadership is a course that you can never graduate from.

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With constant personality & business changes in the world today, you will never be able to excel in business and leadership without repetitive training and self-development.

Business and sales all boil down to an exchange of emotions (the ability to make someone feel good) and being able to solve someone’s problems. If you can’t do that, then you can’t sell your solution, hence business screeches to a halt.

You also need to be able to lead your team and create leaders within your system, and that takes constant learning, training, and application of the skills learned. These things don’t happen overnight, and the techniques are constantly evolving.

 

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO YOU, YOU MAY BE ASKING YOURSELF?

 

I was listening to a great podcast about leadership, and the narrator made some interesting comparisons and gave some great examples of why we need to be repetitive to be successful, and here is where it applies to you.

Brushing your teeth for two minutes per day is the recommendation for healthy dental hygiene.

However, if you only do it once a week, the results will be unfavorable to say the least, but, if you brush your teeth every day for 2 minutes, you will more than likely create a bright smile, and avoid offending people with your breath.

When you start working out, you are unlikely to see results after the first workout. You may feel a little sore, but when you look in the mirror, it’s unlikely you will see change. If you work out 3-5 days per week, after a few months, the transformation becomes obvious.     

The same goes for your nutrition. Eat one great meal, and things aren’t going to change much. Eat good for an entire day and it’s likely you will feel better and have more energy. Eat perfectly for a week and expect to see the number on the scale go down.

 

Eat great for a month, then you will be buying clothes a size smaller.

Once you establish a routine, a piece of chocolate cake or a pizza will have zero effect on you. Flip the switch and keep doing that daily, and you will reverse the hard work it took you to lose weight and get in shape.

This all boils down to creating good habits and consistently making small improvements over time.

If I go to one self-development and leadership course, will that make me a great leader?

Hell no. But when I come back from these seminars and workshops and apply the knowledge to my team, we take small steps to becoming a better organization, and I become a little more credible as a leader.

 

When it comes to working out, I have: NO motivation, NO discipline NO struggle or sacrifice

I can hear you now… LIES!!! (Nope, 100% fact) How in the hell do I do it? (And more importantly, how can you?)

It’s a non-negotiable habit that’s ingrained in my daily life.

I don’t need to “try” to fit it into my busy schedule, and I don’t need motivation or discipline. I don’t struggle or sacrifice my time to fit it in either, I just do it as normally as brushing my teeth and showering. (Confession, I take Saturdays off from working out to recover, however, I still shower and brush my teeth that day)

People always say I’m trying……. Well, what is “trying”. Do you “try” to brush your teeth? Do you “try” to take a shower daily? Do you “try” to drive your car? Do you “try” to tie your shoes?

 

No, you don’t.

 

Because all those tasks (and up to 95% of the things you do in a day) have been habituated - turned into a habit.

You don’t have to “try” (or put any real effort) into brushing your teeth because it is an ingrained habit.

So why do you need to “try” to eat right and exercise daily when it makes such a huge impact your health??

When you habituate your success (in fitness, business, or anything else) “effort” becomes a non-issue. Motivation becomes a non-issue. Discipline becomes a non-issue. Sacrifice becomes a non-issue.

They all take a back seat to the habits we create.

 

I want you to remember this one thing:

You don’t get what you want, you get what your habits are, and how consistently you apply them.

You won’t achieve your goals doing these things sometimes, sporadically, or occasionally.

It’s a lifetime of taking small positive steps one after another, and there is no end date.

Leadership, business, fitness, health, parenting, finances, athletics, or anything else you want to be good at requires consistent learning and application of good habits.

There is no easy way or quick fix. It takes hard work and consistency, regardless of what our goals are, and creating these habits makes the hard work more tolerable.

Don’t have what you want? Change your habits, and over time, you will.

 

Committed to your success,

Coach Matt