Is It Really Motivation You Need? – Ladies Business Community

Have you ever jolted out of bed, feet hitting the floor, and just felt ready to take on the day? I know I have! I’m excited, I’m determined, nothing can stop me, I’m MOTIVATED to get stuff done!

What about the opposite? Have you ever felt that? When you’re chipping away at your goals, but you are just tired….and man it is hard to get anything done. I’ve been here more than I’d care to admit.

I think ALL of us have been subjected to the topic of Motivation. From the riveting speeches, youtube videos, pump-up songs, quotes, etc! But what happens when that motivation wears off? We leave the conference we were at, go back to our everyday lives, and the excitement you felt is gone.

Motivation is important! Those meetings, videos, quotes…they’re important to keep you going. But we really need to talk about, and master is DISCIPLINE.

First, let’s look at the difference between motivation vs discipline.

Motivation: the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way; the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

Discipline: train oneself to do something in a controlled and habitual way

(Oxford Languages definitions)

Your motivation is your why. It’s your reason for wanting to achieve certain goals. Discipline is how you will get it done. It is the systems and habits you must build in order to keep you moving forward when the motivation slips away and things get tough.

There are a few things that can help you build the habits & discipline to be more successful this year.

1. Learn to use a calendar, and respect what’s on your calendar.

2. Remove temptation. Set boundaries and parameters around the item that keeps distracting you. IE: Your phone keeps pinging you with updates from social media and you find yourself checking it constantly. Turn off your notifications on social media and any unnecessary updates. Use “locks” to keep you locked out of certain apps until your done working for the day!

3. Be honest with yourself. Track all your activity. Seriously. Write EVERYTHING you do down. If you’re trying to add something in or remove a habit, this will help you pinpoint what you are doing to move closer to that goal. Read more about this in Atomic Habits.

This year, I’d love to spend more time focusing on building the habits & systems it takes to be successful. Here are a few books that I’ve read that have helped me this far. I hope you will pick up at least one of these titles so we can discuss them further at one of our Coffee & Collaboration events!

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Grit by Angela Duckworth

Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Lawrence Bossidy