Motivation & Discipline: Working Together To Keep You on Track

I have a lot of people that ask me how I stay so motivated all the time. Just the other day at the park I was packing up the kids into the running stroller to go on a run and I heard a girl say “You are way more motivated than me”.

Well secrets out. I am here to tell you that I’m not always motivated. Although I wish I was and I am sure you wish you were too. At that moment, I was actually really contemplating not running. Most times, I am tired (okay more like all the time), I have so many excuses going through my head, and so many other things I could get done.

Although I am not motivated all the time, I have created a routine of healthy habits and have become disciplined.

Motivation and self-discipline work hand in hand. Motivation for me is my initial inspiration and my fuel. Then when I lose my initial inspiration, my self-discipline kicks in and helps keep me going. Just like that day at the park, when I was trying to think about every excuse I could to not run, as I was buckling the kiddos into the stroller and going through with my plan.

These 3 things are what I remind myself when I am losing motivation while trying to build my habits and create consistency:

Ask yourself questions. Get in the habit of asking yourself “what do you want to do?” and “what’s the right thing do to?” What you want to do is your motivation, what’s right for you will take discipline.
Focus On One Thing at a Time
When you are being pulled in numerous directions at once it makes it hard to get anything done. We get overwhelmed easily and it makes it hard to focus.
Remember how good you feel Remember how you feel when you finish your workout, or lose weight or clean. Write it down and don’t forget this feeling!

Being motivated is how most people get started. I see it all the time. And I have been there! I could come up with so many times that I was motivated to do something and then suddenly that fire, that drive, slowly faded. That’s where building good habits and the art of discipline come in.

Good discipline comes from good habits being practiced practiced daily. If you follow me On Instagram you get to see a glimpse of how I start my morning and what we do throughout our entire day. I start everyday thinking about what I’m grateful for and getting out on a walk (weather permitting). Weekends are spent enjoy time with family, while also preparing for the upcoming week. I spend the time meal prepping and organizing our food, because I know how good we all feel when we eat well!

It isn’t always a smooth road. Some weeks, we have way too much on our plate to tackle everything. This is when I start to get that overwhelming feeling. You know that feeling where you just want to cry, maybe scream, and just break down. This is when I sit down, write out what needs to be done and formulate a plan. Somedays It just seems easier and more comforting to just not do all of it. But this is where discipline kicks in, and I ask myself the questions, tackle one thing at a time and remember how good I feel when I am done.

Finding a routine and sticking with it and then just adjusting as you go (because let’s be real as Mom’s we are constantly adjusting) is where it’s at. I know I say it a lot in my posts, but fail to plan, then plan to fail!!

Routines create consistency, and Consistency is discipline’s best friend.

Although routines create consistency it’s important to step back and take a look at our routines to make sure they are going to help us reach our goal. Because let’s be real, we have all been in routines that are not the best for us and those need to be broken immediately. Ask yourself, “is this routine healthy and is it benefiting me and my family?”.

Now there is no reason to get down on yourself if you find yourself trying something new for a few weeks and it just isn’t becoming a habit. It's takes longer than that. Stick with it and don’t give up! and say good bye to perfectionism because you are going to make mistakes along the way and that is okay. Learn from them, adjust, regroup and move forward.

For example, when I was coming off being sick this past December, after taking it easy for a few weeks, I was out of my routine, in a rut, but I began to ask myself the questions —What are you doing and what should you be doing? Why do you want this and how will it make you feel? I took a look at a photo I took at the gym and was reminded at how good I felt when I was being consistent and let me tell you guys once you start seeing results its addicting. I almost had that overwhelming feeling and wanted to break down, but I tackled one thing at a time and slowly got back into my workout routine.

results are addicting! nothing tastes as good as being healthy/strong feels

The truth is, both self-discipline and motivation are equally important for you to form a habit—They work perfectly together to keep you on track.

So here’s to letting your motivation propel you to get going, and your self-discipline to kick in and keep you focused and moving!