Motivation Or Discipline?

Motivation and discipline are both important for achieving your goals. However, when it comes to weight loss or any long-term goal, discipline is more important than motivation.

Although motivation is the emotional fuel you need when you’re struggling with a goal, if you want to achieve something that will last forever — such as weight loss or writing a novel — discipline has to become your go-to plan.

Discipline is doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like it because it’s good for you in the long run. Sometimes this means working out even though all you want to do is eat junk food and watch TV all day or not going out with friends so that you can stay home instead and study. It might be hard to do and you might procrastinate and feel like you’d rather be doing something else, but discipline is what will get you the results that you want.

Motivation on the other hand is what will keep you going when times are tough. It’s what can make those long workouts go from daunting to manageable or those lonely evenings as a writer more bearable as you remember why it is that you’re writing in the first place — to make your dreams come true. You don’t need motivation all day every day, but it helps to have some before challenging days so that you can push yourself just enough to achieve what needs to be done and then rest afterwards.

Motivation and Discipline Are Oftentimes Intertwined

Before starting any goal, whether it’s weight loss or studying for an exam, it’s important to think about whether you need more motivation or discipline. If you find that you’re always lacking motivation and procrastinating then try adding in some more discipline into your life — do one little thing every day towards your goal and soon enough those habits will become second nature and you’ll be well on your way to achieving what you set out for yourself.

On the other hand, if all of the self-discipline in the world isn’t helping with your lack of motivation, don’t worry — finding a little bit of extra motivation can make all the difference. Sometimes all we need is a small change such as planning an active date night with friends once a week instead of going out drinking every weekend. By doing this we can motivate ourselves to get the exercise we need and still enjoy our social lives.

Of course, motivation and discipline play different roles when it comes to achieving your goals but you definitely need both so try focusing on finding a good balance between the two. It might take some time but soon enough you’ll be able to switch back and forth seamlessly — using motivation every once in a while when you’re struggling with discipline or using discipline to stay on track with your goals even when motivation hits its peak.

It’s important to remember that letting go of self-discipline can lead to laziness, while constantly depending on motivation can lead to burnout. We all have an emotional tank that needs refilling every once in a while so don’t rely solely on motivation to do the heavy lifting — it will save you in the long run.

When looking at both discipline and motivation, it is clear that they go hand in hand. Motivation without discipline does nothing; we need the motivation to push us into doing all of those things that we know we should or want to be doing but aren’t. However, once we’re motivated enough, the only way we can stay on track and keep going with what needs to be done is through self-discipline. It’s important not to lose either one if you want your goals to succeed.