Why You Struggle With Motivation (And What Actually Works)
At least once a day, I find myself mildly enraged by the misleading, and sometimes blatantly false, advice that gets repeated in the online health and fitness space (often by shirtless gym bros 🙄).
One of my favorite ones to be annoyed by is:
“You don’t need motivation. You need discipline.”
Followed closely by:
“You don’t need motivation. You just need to take action.”
Even though they make nice sound bites, both statements fall apart the second you look at how human behavior actually works.
Let’s break them down, because they’re wrong in slightly different ways.
#1) “You don’t need motivation. You need discipline.”
This sounds empowering, but it misunderstands what motivation actually is.
Most people hear “motivation” and think:
hype
excitement
feeling like doing the thing
But in behavior science, motivation is simply the reason you do anything at all.
It’s the “why” behind every behavior, whether you feel like it or not.
Even “discipline” is powered by motivation.
When someone wakes up early to work out when they don’t feel like it, they’re not operating without motivation.
They’re operating with a different kind of motivation, like:
“I want to feel proud of myself”
“I don’t want to keep breaking promises to myself”
“This matters for my future health”
That’s still motivation. It’s just not emotional hype.
It’s values-based, identity-based, or consequence-based motivation.
So when people say “you don’t need motivation, you need discipline,” what they’re really doing is redefining discipline as something separate from motivation.
When in reality, discipline is a pattern of behavior driven by consistent forms of motivation.
Discipline isn’t the absence of motivation.
It’s consistent motivation, applied on purpose over time.
#2) “You don’t need motivation. You just need to take action.”
This one breaks down even faster.
Because NO ACTION EXISTS WITHOUT MOTIVATION.
(apologies for screaming, but this is a big one to understand)
Saying “you don’t need motivation, just take action” is like saying “you don’t need fuel, just drive the car.”
Action is the output.
Motivation is the fuel.
No fuel, no movement.
There is always a reason you are doing something, even if it’s subtle or unconscious (or sometimes self-sabotaging).
If you take action, something motivated that action:
Desire (I want this outcome)
Avoidance (I don’t want that consequence)
Habit (this is what I usually do)
Identity (this is who I am)
Environment (this is what’s easiest right now)
Even something like “I just forced myself to do it” still has motivation underneath it:
“I didn’t want to feel guilty later”
“I wanted to get it over with”
“I told someone I would”
THAT'S MOTIVATION.
(I know I'm screaming again...deep breaths...)
Now, I get why these kinds of #fitspo statements are appealing (even if they are misleading).
They’re a reaction to a real, valid problem:
Waiting to feel like it before you start
But these phrases throw motivation out entirely, instead of helping you understand it…which just creates a bigger problem.
They lead you to believe that:
something is wrong with you for not taking action “without motivation”
you should be able to override human behavior systems with sheer force
And that leads to:
burnout
inconsistency
all-or-nothing cycles
Here's what's actually true (and a more useful way to think about all of this):
1 - ALL BEHAVIOR IS MOTIVATED BEHAVIOR
(ok...that's the last time I yell, I promise)
2 - You don’t need high motivation, but you do need some motivation
3 -Sustainable change happens when you build:
better forms of motivation (values, identity, meaning)
better support (environment, systems, structure)
better skills (how to follow through when it’s hard)
So instead of:
“You don’t need motivation”
A more honest and helpful statement would be:
You don’t need to feel like it,
But you do need to understand what’s driving your behavior, and learn how to work with it.
That’s the difference between forcing change…and actually being able to sustain it.
And that’s exactly what we work on in coaching.
You can book a call here to learn more and see if it’s the right fit for you.
