I wanted to jump in here really quick and talk about motivation.
For years I always told myself I had to find the motivation to do things. I’m slowly realizing that that is not how motivation works. You don’t go looking for motivation under the sofa, you make it. You have to be your own motivation, you have to make your own motivation.
I used to be pretty overweight as a kid and I had no self confidence, no self esteem, it was horrible. I then developed some health problems and lost the weight, and then gained it all back. This year has been about me taking back my life. I wanted to figure out how to make myself happy, and how to grow some confidence and self esteem. I’m slowly learning that pretty much everything in your life is linked to your mentality.
I started this year not feeling good about myself, feeling like a constant failure and like I would never be happy with myself. I was depressed, constantly anxious and just exhausted. Within the last couple of months I really started to take control of my life. I have little to no anxiety on a daily basis which is something that I never thought would happen, and my depression is just about gone. Now, I’m still pretty exhausted but at least coffee exists.
What changed?
I started focusing on myself. My boyfriend really helped me see that I wasn’t helping myself by doing what I was doing. I was sleeping a ton, always saying I would workout then skipping it, saying I was going to eat well then binging on Taco Bell, and then being so sad about my lack of control and motivation. He pointed out that I wasn’t communicating with him about anything I was feeling, I was always down and irritable and he just didn’t know how to help me. I realized then and there that I needed to change my brain. I needed to do a complete overhaul of my mindset and get my priorities straight.
I signed up for therapy, I bought some self help books and I got to work. The thing that helped me the most though, exercise. I became committed to working out consistently. I know rest days are incredibly important to muscle recovery and growth, but I needed to get myself to workout daily for a while to get into the swing of things. Currently I’m working out twice a day and that has been for 2 weeks in a row. Mentally I feel the best I have in probably my entire life. Physically I am feeling stronger, I am feeling healthier, I am feeling more energetic and I can get through my workouts so much easier. With all of this, I’m actually waking up feeling refreshed. I had actually forgotten how that felt.
I’ll be honest, I am not always motivated to get up at 4 am and workout. Sometimes it doesn't happen, but I know I’ll have to workout after work and I know that for me it is 10 times harder to get myself to workout after work than to get up early and do it. I know that for some people it is the opposite but I am an early bird and I’m in bed by 8pm. A long HIIT workout before bed is just daunting. I don’t find the motivation to get up, I make the motivation. Sometimes I have to watch something motivating, other times I just tell myself to get up and get dressed.
You motivate yourself by getting up and doing things when you have no motivation. I am so much more motivated when I force myself to get up and change than when I wait and procrastinate. I am so much more motivated when I prove to myself that I got my workout done when I really wanted to stay in bed. This may not work for everyone and maybe you need to reward yourself with a coffee from your favorite coffee shop. You need to find what gets you up and gets you working towards your goals. For me, it’s just completing the workout. I feel so great after a good HIIT or strength workout. I feel accomplished and ready for the day. I do sometimes reward myself with new workout gear, or a cup of coffee or a red bull spritzer. Find your motivating factor and get to it. Soon it’ll be a habit and you won’t even notice that you got up at 4:30 and did a workout.
One small tip that helped me was the 5 second rule. While laying in bed, or sitting on the couch, count to 5. On 5 force yourself to get up and do what you’re wanting to put off. It doesn't always work for me, but 80% of the time it does. When it doesn’t work I’m usually up and doing whatever the task was a few minutes later. Whether you use that trick, or if you tell yourself you’ll just do 10 minutes of cleaning or a 10 minute workout or whatever it is, at least you do that much. At worst, you’ll only do 10 minutes. At best, you will feel good doing whatever you’re doing and end up doing it longer. Reward yourself with a bath, a nap, a snack, a coffee, whatever you can.
Mind over matter. You are capable of so much more than you think!
About the Creator
Emily McDonald
27, fur mom, mental health focus. I'm also a fitness and lifestyle blogger. I hope you enjoy the content!
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Self Esteem
For most of my life I didn’t love myself. Hell, I didn’t even really like myself. I was so caught up in my physical appearance and how far off I was from the societal standard of beauty that I felt like nothing. I felt disgusting. I dreaded my daily showers because of how much I despised my body. I had to sleep in very specific ways so I wouldn’t touch the parts of my body I didn’t like. It was hell. This was my life from 8-24. 16 years of no self esteem, no self confidence, nothing.
By Emily McDonald4 years ago in Motivation
I Never Chose the Easy Path; I Always Chose Hardship
From the earliest memories I can recall, life presented me with two roads. One was smooth, inviting, and well-trodden—a path that promised comfort, approval, and ease. The other was rough, rocky, and uncertain—a path of struggle, obstacles, and lessons that demanded effort, patience, and resilience. I never chose the smooth road. I never took shortcuts. Not because I was fearless, but because something deep inside refused to let me live a life that wasn’t earned. The easy path whispered promises of fleeting satisfaction, fleeting success, and fleeting recognition. It was tempting. Many around me chose it, and I often wondered if I was foolish for ignoring it. But I learned early that true growth is rarely convenient. The easiest choice often leads to emptiness, to regret, to a quiet knowing that you could have been more than you allowed yourself to be. Hardship became my teacher long before success ever noticed me. The lessons it offered were harsh, uncompromising, and often lonely. There were days when choosing the hard path felt like choosing isolation. While others were celebrated for small accomplishments, supported by friends and family, I walked in silence, with doubt as my companion. Progress was invisible to the world. Failures were frequent and relentless. Many nights, I returned home tired, my heart heavy, my mind questioning why I even bothered. Yet even in that silence, I was being shaped. I was learning the value of persistence, of dedication, and of refusing to give up on myself. The hard path forced honesty. It refused to allow excuses. It stripped away illusions and pretenses. I was left face-to-face with my limits, my fears, and my own humanity. On this path, I discovered strengths I never knew I had: patience I had never cultivated, resilience I had doubted, and self-respect that grew every time I stood up instead of walking away. These were not lessons that could be taught in comfort. They were only learned in struggle, in challenge, and in the quiet persistence of refusing to quit when no one was watching. I remember one time vividly. I had a goal that seemed impossible—one that required me to sacrifice comfort, leisure, and social approval. The easy path was right there: a way to avoid the challenge, to be “okay,” to follow what others had done before me. Many advised me to take it. “It’s safer,” they said. “It’s simpler,” they said. But I could feel, deep inside, that taking the easy way would leave me empty. I chose the hard path. The journey was grueling. Every step felt like pushing against gravity. But with each challenge, I gained more than I ever would have on the easy road. I gained endurance, confidence, and an understanding that real achievement is never handed—it is earned. Strength, I realized, isn’t loud. It doesn’t announce itself. It grows quietly, in the moments no one sees—the early mornings, the long nights, the repeated failures, the times you push forward when giving up would be understandable. Resilience is not simply surviving; it is deliberately choosing to continue, to stand again, to pursue the path that tests you the most. It is knowing that walking away is easier but will never lead to the person you are capable of becoming. I have walked many hard roads in life. Each one was different, yet the lessons were the same: comfort cannot teach endurance, shortcuts cannot teach discipline, and fleeting success cannot teach respect. Every struggle, no matter how small, adds to your character. Every failure is a mirror that shows you who you really are. And every choice to face hardship instead of fleeing builds a foundation that lasts long after temporary victories fade. There were times when I felt truly alone. People around me often misunderstood my choices. Friends, family, colleagues—they all questioned why I refused the easy way, why I worked harder, why I pushed myself beyond what seemed necessary. They didn’t see the growth happening quietly inside me. They didn’t see the small victories, the lessons learned, the resilience being forged. But eventually, the results spoke for themselves—not in a loud announcement, but in the quiet confidence and self-respect that I had built from the inside out. Life, I have learned, rewards those who endure hardship. Not always immediately. Not always visibly. But it rewards those who persist, who face struggle head-on, and who refuse to settle for anything less than becoming their fullest selves. Success that comes without effort is temporary; strength and self-respect are eternal. Hardship tests us, but it also teaches us. It shows us the depth of our own courage, the strength of our will, and the power of refusing to surrender. The lessons of the hard path are subtle, often invisible, and always lasting. I learned that failing is not shameful; failing is a necessary step toward mastery. I learned that enduring pain, even when no one notices, builds a type of strength that comfort never can. I learned that the more difficult the path, the deeper the reward—not measured in wealth or fame, but in character, wisdom, and self-respect. Every choice to embrace struggle instead of avoiding it shaped me. Every sacrifice, every extra hour, every moment of doubt faced instead of ignored, added to the foundation of the person I am today. My life was not easy. It was messy, unpredictable, and often overwhelming. But it was authentic. It was mine. And through hardship, I became resilient. I became someone who can face challenges without fear because I have faced them before. I became someone who respects themselves because I have honored my own effort. I became someone capable of growth because I refused to choose comfort over character. I often reflect on the people around me who chose the easy path. Many of them achieved quick victories, immediate recognition, and temporary peace. But over time, I noticed something important: the victories were shallow, the peace fleeting, and the growth minimal. They lacked the depth of resilience, the quiet power of self-respect, and the profound satisfaction that comes from knowing you endured, you learned, and you became someone stronger. Choosing hardship is not glamorous. It is not celebrated in real-time. It is often lonely, exhausting, and demanding. But it is transformative. It shapes your mind, your heart, and your spirit in ways comfort never can. It teaches discipline, patience, humility, and courage. It makes failure meaningful, effort valuable, and success earned. The hard path is where true people are made—people who understand that life’s challenges are not punishments, but opportunities. Opportunities to become better, stronger, wiser, and more capable. I never chose the easy path. I always chose the harder road, the one that tested me, the one that demanded effort, and the one that required me to face myself honestly. I walked through fear, doubt, exhaustion, and setbacks. I fell, and I got up. I failed, and I tried again. I cried, I questioned, I endured. And through it all, I became someone I could respect, someone who knew the value of persistence, someone who understood that hardship is not the enemy—it is the greatest teacher. Today, I measure success differently. I do not measure it by comfort, convenience, or ease. I measure it by growth, resilience, and the depth of self-respect I have cultivated. I measure it by how I faced challenges I could not ignore, how I embraced struggles that seemed unbearable, and how I refused to take shortcuts at the cost of my own becoming. I never chose the easy path. I chose the one that made me resilient. I chose the one that taught me self-respect. I chose the one that allowed me to become the person I am today. And if I had the choice again, I would choose the hard path every single time. Because the road of struggle is not only a journey—it is the making of a human being.writing...
By Ihtisham Ulhaq6 days ago in Motivation
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