Making Progress: Why ROUTINE Is Often More Important Than Motivation

by Ryan Bauer

What Do You Want to Accomplish?

What Are Your Goals?

How Do You Plan To Approach It?

What are You Waiting For? Motivation?

I'll be blunt. You will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER accomplish your goals to their full potential if you rely solely on motivation to get you there.

Let's focus on this assertion as it applies to Fitness and better Health.

Let's say you're motivated today and not tomorrow. You're motivated this week but not next week. You're motivated this month but not next month.

I think you get the idea.

Motivation comes and goes. Motivation CAN be a strong and driving force, but what happens when it goes away? Where does that leave you?

I PROMISE you, whatever your goal happens to be: fat loss, weight loss, building muscle, getting in better overall shape, improving your physique, WHATEVER, you'll be extremely motivated at first because it's exciting to attack your goals. It's exciting to chase that progress. It's exciting to try to change and achieve what you want to achieve.

And then...

Your progress will be slow. You'll be tired one day and take a step back. You'll get too busy or you'll find "motivation" to do something else that needs your attention. I've seen it too many times.

And then...

You'll slide backwards. Your motivation will wane. You'll realize how hard of a goal it is to prioritize and you'll convince yourself that it wasn't ACTUALLY as important to you as you thought it would be.

And so you fail. You fail NOT because you didn't actually want it; you fail because your motivation left you.

And that's all it takes. What was once your goal driven by a motivation to change is no longer your goal because hey, you tried, right?

Wrong.

You lost motivation. You didn't try. You relied on your initial surge of energy and focus to get you to the pinnacle and once the climb became too steep or you got distracted, your motivation disappeared and your goal was no longer a priority.

The take-away: In Order To SUCCEED and Actually ACCOMPLISH Your Goals, They Have to Be Fueled By ROUTINE and NOT Motivation alone.

Think about it. Your routine is what you do every day, no questions asked. I'ts brushing your teeth, it's taking a shower, it's getting dressed, it's setting your alarm; routine is what you do without thinking about it, it just happens because it's prioritized. Your routine involves things you NEED to do and that can't be left out. Routine doesn't require motivation, it just involves breathing. It means going through the motions and living your normal life and performing your normal tasks to get from Point A to Point B.

So why not make your goals part of that routine? If your goals are to lose weight or get stronger or in better shape, why not prioritize 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week to routine? That's what progress requires. Progress is not achieved if you make it only when you want to make it. Progress is achieved when you make it when you DON'T want to make it.

And the only way you can truly make it: progress, that is? Incorporate it into your daily routine.

Whatever your goals happen to be, fitness-related or not, you CANNOT and WILL NOT reach them on motivation alone. Because I promise, you'll have days and weeks and months that you just don't feel like taking the necessary strides to accomplishing those goals. And when that happens, you'll digress.

Plain a simple.

Long story short: motivation should not be the driving force behind your long-term achievements. Making your goals your priority and your routine is the only way you'll succeed.

I promise.