If you can’t be motivated, be consistent.
With the second (third rather!) week of the new year coming in, we realize how new year resolutions can be left as that: failed attempts.
It is frustrating, hoping to change for the better. But old habits die hard. Old habits die screaming, begging for another chance to stay before being purged.
Hence the conclusion that motivation is fleeting, an unreliable faucet to tap into if we wish to fulfill the changes we want to make.
So, if we can’t be motivated, then maybe we can be consistent.
While the all-or-nothing approach seems inspiring and motivational, it is motivational because not everyone can do it. And while we aspire to be those people, we have to admit that with everything on our plates, we simply cannot.
So, if we can’t do an all-or-nothing approach, be consistent. If I can’t run for an hour, run for thirty minutes. If I can’t run for thirty minutes, I’ll walk for ten.
We don’t need to go all out and be hard on our resolutions, or punish ourselves. If the goal is for us to be better, we have to allow grace and time for us to make mistakes, to find out what works for us, and to know the right buttons to keep us rolling.
Throughout the trial and error, I found out extrinsic motivation works best. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, races and medals were how I first started falling in love with running. I was at the right place and at the right time, with the right people. People who also love movement and running, people who are far more knowledgeable than I am and are imparting wisdom for us were present. They invited us to run clubs, to medals that we have to complete. We later learned of the proper training, how to eat in a way that benefits our runs, and how we can push ourselves to be better, faster, and stronger. We were given the dopamine chase, signing up for race after race, and before I knew it, I ran a half marathon four months after despising the sport, and running a marathon exactly a year later, completely falling in love with it. The extrinsic motivation was replaced by habit. Not discipline even, God knows there are days when I’d rather stay home, but somehow my feet found themselves running somewhere.
Find out what makes you tick. And use those ticks to fuel your resolutions. You’ll be crushing them before you know it. It’s just going to take a lot longer than we anticipated.
And don’t worry, I’m struggling with my resolution too. But it’s all part of the process.
