Why Motivation Doesn't Work

It may seem harsh, but motivation doesn’t work. Motivation to go to the gym, to start a new diet or to get back in shape sounds great, but the truth is it just doesn’t last. Motivation is defined as “the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something”, and it’s just that-your starting reason why. While we need motivation to get started, it isn’t what is going to help us see lasting change. 

I’m sure you have felt times in your life where you were incredibly motivated. Maybe it was when you were finishing school, starting a new career or growing your family. Change is both exciting and scary, which is why it can feel very motivating in the beginning. But, after a while when more roadblocks occur, situations change and time passes, that motivation fades away. 

Specifically, making changes to our health often requires us to move past motivation into discipline. We can use our “whys” as a constant reminder of what we are making change for, but without a solid routine, plan of action and way of measuring our success, we are likely to find ourselves in our “motivated” state over and over again. 

Taking Action: Harnessing Motivation 

While I’ve just discounted motivation, I do want to make it clear that it is a necessary piece of the puzzle, just not the only piece. Motivation is fundamental to human behavior and success. Motivation is what has allowed us to progress as a species, and pushes us to fulfill our basic needs of food, water and social interaction. Without motivation, we would have no reason to change; and motivation gives us fulfillment. With motivation, we are able to chase after goals and accomplish them, which is essential for our brain's reward system. 

Motivation requires us to do a constant cost-benefit analysis. We utilize our personal data such as physiological state, environment and past experience to evaluate if the benefits of making a change will outweigh the costs. If we determine such, then we will find ourselves in the place of motivation to act. Simply put, if we think there will be a reward on the other end, it makes it easier for us to take action. 

Most of us know why we initially want to make a change. Our patients know that pain shouldn’t be normalized and see the benefits of getting out of pain. Our patients also come to us knowing that we can hold them accountable to their health and fitness goals. But, we have to have the discussion of what change looks like as motivation fades. 

The Early Stages of Motivation 

If you’ve done your cost-benefit analysis and you’re ready to take action, it is the perfect time to harness that motivation. This is an incredibly powerful tool when used correctly. To make the most of your motivation, start by sitting down and thinking through what the change will look like. We have written many posts about setting goals, with SMART goals being a great tool to guide you. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. This way, you have a timeline, metrics and action steps to actually make the change that you want to see. 

When you are feeling extra motivated, take time to sit down and hand write your goals and what they mean to you. Studies show that hand-writing helps to improve memory retention, solidifying your goals in your head. Having a physical copy of your goals can also give you a visual cue to return to. 

Once you have them written down, it becomes easier to plan for your changes. Say you are motivated to run a half-marathon this year. While it seems like a daunting task, it actually is perfect for creating a SMART goal. Since they have race dates, it provides a hard deadline of when you need to be prepared. There are a plethora of training programs and apps available based on your running level and goals. You can measure success based on completion, making a goal time and hitting all of your runs during the week. This way, motivation is not your only driving force. 

Moving Forward from Motivation to Consistency 

Let’s say that for a month you were on top of everything. You were hitting your workout goals, food goals and seeing changes in your lifestyle. At the end of the month, you still feel that draw to meet your goal but it just doesn’t…feel as strong. It feels like other things are pulling your attention away. It’s easier to make excuses and deviate from your goals. 

All of this is totally normal, but it’s exactly why motivation doesn’t work. It’s great while it lasts, but sometimes it can be hard to continue when our goal still feels distant. You don’t always “feel motivated” to get up and go to the gym or cook a healthy meal. But when you are consistent, it becomes part of your routine. You don’t have to feel motivated, you just have to stick to your routine. The crazy thing is that the more you make that choice, the easier it is to not rely on motivation. 

But how do you get there? You have to train your brain. UGH! You have to find ways to get yourself up and off the couch, regardless of what it takes. One of my favorite frameworks comes from Mel Robbins. She explains the five second rule. Essentially, you count down from five and have to force yourself to move or take action at that point. It seems silly, but it really does work. Again, the more you do it, the easier it gets. 

Navigating Roadblocks 

So what do you do when life happens? Naturally, things are going to come up and our attention and time will have to be divided. Busy seasons happen, schedules change and our routine shifts. My biggest piece of advice is to make one choice for yourself everyday. Maybe you choose to walk over your lunch break instead of staying at your desk. You make the swap to a lettuce wrap. When you’re cooking dinner you do a few squats. While they seem small and insignificant, these changes are what help us to get unstuck, and not return to the place where we feel like we have to overhaul our life. 

There is always room to reevaluate your goals. Maybe when you were feeling super motivated you made goals that felt manageable at the time, but in practice they were harder to execute on. It’s always easier to scale up your goals than to feel defeated for not meeting them. One makes you feel like you are crushing life, and the other feels like it’s crushing you. I fall victim to this all the time; I make crazy goals for myself and then get disappointed when I’m not successful. As I mentioned before, even making one choice a day will get you farther than changing everything for two weeks and feeling like a failure. 

Wrap It Up and Get To It

If you got to this point, you are probably looking to make some change and maybe needed a bit of motivation. Sit down, look at your goals and start making your steps. The even better part? We are here to support you through any part of that process. The Movement Lab has classes or personal training to meet anyone's needs. Jenn is an incredible health coach and has helped people gain weight, lose weight and make lasting changes to their health. You don’t have to go through it alone, but you do need to create consistency to become better than before.