Here’s what’s wrong with motivation: it doesn’t last, and it’s not always there for you. If you’re striving to hit some fitness milestones you’ve never hit before, and you are depending on motivation to keep you fired up for the duration, you might want to think again. Motivation comes and goes. When motivation wanes, you need to have a solid plan to keep yourself in the game and going after your goals.

What Is Motivation?

In brief, motivation is the desire or willingness to do something. According to psychologists, motivation is the energizing feeling that causes you to exert physical or mental effort in pursuit of a goal.

At its best, motivation provides you with the drive to power through tough workouts and dieting, strive for goals, and reach for success. At its worst, it’s fleeting, elusive, temperamental, unsustainable, intermittent, and even fickle.

Yes, emotion can beget motion, but you may not always be able to drum up that emotion. And when you can’t, or you’re tired after a long, hard day, what’s going to get you into those gym clothes and out the door? Not motivation. That’s what’s wrong with motivation.

Why Motivation Alone Doesn’t Work

The problem with using motivation as your driving factor to work out is that motivation comes and goes. You might wake up one day feeling fired up and on top of the world, ready to conquer all challenges. Then, the next day, you’re back in the doldrums with no motivation whatsoever. Obviously, this kind of back-and-forth effort is not going to work in the long term if you’re trying to achieve worthwhile goals.

Realize that You Need Discipline

It’s not always motivation that’s going to get you out of bed and out the door, but discipline will. Motivation comes and goes, but discipline is always in force. So, instead of motivation, the wishy-washy emotion, you need something steadier and more sustainable, and that comes in the form of discipline.

Discipline is training yourself to act or behave in ways that support your goals on a regular basis, no matter what else is going on or how you feel at the time. Discipline is the rules that you set for yourself. It might look something like:

• I get up an hour early every morning so I can take a 45-minute walk.
• I eat healthy, nutritious meals all week.
• I have five cheat meals a month, and if I’m doing something social, I make sure to make it correspond with one of those days.
• I take my vitamins and supplements every day.
• I meditate every night before bed.

Discipline helps you develop a consistent regimen that you can follow, regardless of your level of motivation.

What You Can Do Instead of Relying on Motivation

Yes, feeling motivated is great, but what’s wrong with motivation is that you’re going to need more to keep you from tapping out. Here are a few tried and true suggestions to help you when motivation falls flat:

1. Just start moving—it may sound overly simplistic, but sometimes that’s all it takes for you to get on a roll. Just as Newton’s First Law of Motion (the Law of Inertia) states, “An object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” So, just take the first few steps or actions, and the ones after that will get easier.

2. Review your reasons—while you may not feel motivated to work out, if you go over the main reasons why you want to be fit, it can set you back on the right path and be the push you need to get going. Picture yourself in a few years: what will you look like? What will your life look like if you don’t get exercise on a regular basis? Think of all the negative things that could potentially happen. Then, flip that imagery around and think about how great you’ll feel and look and how healthy you’ll be if you stay disciplined to exercise and eat right consistently.
3. Create positive goals—specific or broad, goals should be based on something that’s positive, purposeful, and practical, so they’re more appealing. In other words, instead of having a goal rooted in what you don’t want, focus on what you do want. For example, instead of something along the lines of “I hate how shaky my legs are, and I’m always worried about losing my balance and falling down.” Focus on something you want, such as “I want to increase my leg strength and mobility so I easily get up and maintain my independence.” Rather than, “My soft, squishy belly is always in the way,” set your goals to improve your core strength so you can easily pick up your kids (or grandkids).
4. Build great habits—it’s not always motivation that will get you doing what you need to do, but when you foster good healthy habits (like eating nutritious foods and getting to the gym on the regular), it will be easier to propel yourself forward. Just as you can get into a rut of bad habits, you can also get into a “rut” with good habits. Create healthy habits and put yourself on autopilot!

7. Have a plan—having a set plan to follow will help keep you moving and on track. Sometimes, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is deciding what to do. Having your workout planned (e.g., what exercises you’ll do in what order, how many sets and reps, and the weights for each exercise) can allow you to work at it like it’s a project to complete. You go through your steps and check them off one by one until you’re done with your workout.
8. Create a schedule—now that you know what you’re going to do, you also need to know when and where you’re going to do it. What time do you need to be at the yoga studio? When are you meeting your workout partner at the gym? Or what class will you go to at the gym or follow online and when does it start?
9. Don’t think, just do—if you give yourself too much time to think about things and decide whether or not you want to exercise, chances are good you might not get to it. Instead, be that person who does what’s on their list. Period. Get your exercise in and check it off. Then, move on to the next item. When you don’t waste emotional energy on decisions (because exercising is just what you do every day), you’ll have more energy to spend on what you really want. Too much decision-making can lead to procrastination, and we all know where that gets us.
10. Have fun—it seems like there are so many “shoulds” when it comes to working out. There are trending workouts or experts telling you the best way to lose fat, build muscle, or improve your metabolism. But, and I can’t stress this enough, moving your body in a way that’s fun for you is one of the easiest ways to get past low motivation. If you like what you’re doing, there’s less resistance. (After all, most of us don’t need to feel motivated to go for ice cream.) If you like to push your muscles to see how strong you can become, do that. If you enjoy a specific class or trainer at your gym or online, do that. If you love getting outside and being in nature, hit the trail.While this contradicts the section on setting a schedule, there will be days when you aren’t feeling your workout, but the thought of an evening walk or jog to watch the sunset makes your heart sing. In that case, it’s okay to skip your scheduled workout and choose joy.

Remember, what’s wrong with motivation is that it is not enough to achieve your goals. Discipline and consistency get it done. There’s no one-size-fits-all for a fulfilling fitness journey, but the strategies above can help you get up and moving, even when you don’t have the motivation.