I'm not asking how you motivate yourself to clean your room or to wake up early. But what keeps you doing that one single thing every single day. What motivates you to keep studying everyday. What keeps you motivated to go to the gym 4 times a week for 2 years without giving up. Not once, but for at least a year.
My motivations come from my passions and goals. I have a pretty solid idea of where I want to be and what I want to do. I have set a plan to make sure I get there one day. I am very interested and passionate about my field of study and I want to really utilize my knowledge to make a difference in the world. Knowing that the knowledge I will obtain during my studies will be extremely useful for what I want to do professionally when I am older motivates me to study hard and get good grades. I am also motivated by the idea that studying hard can take me to where I want to be in the world. I am study the computer sciences right now. I have goals to move to silicon valley, work at one of the major tech companies like Apple or Google, and one day start up my own business. This whole idea drives me because it is exactly what I want to do, exactly where I want to be. Setting the goals to get there shows me the important things I need to focus on like school, work place experience, etc. Success stories from some of my idols are what inspire me, and also motivate me too. Stories like that of Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates inspire me to want to do what I do. Knowing that my hard work will pay off in the future when I am working on some of the new cutting edge technologies. Really making a difference in the world. There are many other factors that contribute to my motivation but these are some of the things that motivate me most. Find what you love, where you love, and set goals to get there. You can do anything, so follow your heart. It will drive you!
Yes! The people who go to the gym religiously and the people who study every night don't run on motivation, they run on discipline. I'm motivated to become healthier and reach my fitness goal, but discipline is what is going to get me to the gym on the days that I don't want to move.
This is because you lost motivation! Motivation is huge every day. If you lose sight of your goal or motovation to suceed then you won't desire to discipline yourself to better yourself. You need keep reminding yourself of your goals and where your hard work is taking you. I find when I am having a hard day, I take some time to remind myself why I am going through all the trouble, and I find that drive again.
I think that's more a lack of self-discipline still. This article sums it up nicely: http://sourcesofinsight.com/discipline-vs-motivation/ Motivation is just the reason behind why you want something - and I think that's a strong factor in why you may begin something. But like I said above, it's not enough to keep you going. You need strong self-discipline and habit. Discipline keeps you going even when you've lost your motivation and don't want too.
Why are you trying to motivate yourself to do something you don't want to. I don't really see stopping going to the gym as a negative. If you don't feel like going anymore and you instead do something you do feel like doing, aren't you living a more enjoyable life? Maybe at one point the gym was right for you and it isn't anymore. I used to enjoy skateboarding and when I did I didn't have to even think about motivation to improve. Skateboarding for 8h a day was what I wanted to do , no conscious effort to cultivate that want was required. When I didn't want to do that anymore I stopped and did something else . I don't agree with putting up with bs to meet some end goal. If want composer and your putting up with writing in an effort to get famous, you are never going to to be as good as the guy that actually enjoys the writing process. The kid who feels he needs to be amazing at calculus in an effort to obtain some external goal (such as acquiring a certain standard of living) will never be as good as the kid who enjoys banging out calc problems all day in his free time. Instead of attempting figuring out how to make yourself work hard find something where you can do that without feeling like your doing so. There is a reason all those mom's that read self-help books daily never really do anything.
