When You Don’t Want to, You Need to

Motivation is not a constant emotion. There are days when you spring out of bed and attack the day. There are other days when you snooze the alarm and start more slowly. Some days are easier to find the motivation and others, the motivation is nowhere to be found. Motivation aside, you have goals you are working towards. Motivation aside, you know what the best use of your time should be in order to chip away and become one step closer to achieving. Motivation aside, you know the benefits of acting and what not acting will do. The days where the best mental growth happens are the days where you have no motivation to act but you still do. Days when you absolutely do not want to, but you find a way to do.

Fortitude is built not during the easy days. It is built on the hard days. It is built through doing the hard things. The easy thing is to say you will just do it tomorrow. The easy thing is saying you will sacrifice your goals for today’s gratification and today’s ease.

“It’s hot outside, I can run tomorrow.”

“I am cozy in bed, I can get up early tomorrow.”

“I talked to 3 clients yesterday, I can kick my feet up today and enjoy the game.”

“I ate healthy all week, I can eat 3 cookies this weekend.”

Not wanting to do something and then not doing it, delays your progress. It delays and removes personal proof that you are working toward something you want to achieve. It is living the idea of “1 step forward, 2 steps back.” When you do not work or act on days you do “not feel like it,” you are rapidly decreasing the window and area for improvement in your life.

Acting when you have no motivation to do so is a vote of confidence for yourself. It is a vote of confidence that even when the going gets tough, you still put boots on the ground and get to work. You do not need sunshine and rainbows, you do not need motivation, you just get started. No matter the personal emotions attached, the work has to be done and you will do the work.

When you do not want to act, you need to act because this sort of action proves you can push through to progress, regardless of your emotional and personal feelings. Any action done with no motivation is infinitely more rewarding than action done when you are fueled with the adrenaline boost of motivation. Finishing a run after grappling with internal doubt and conflict of not wanting to prior to starting hardens your internal fortitude. When you don’t want to, you need to. You need to be who you want to become even when motivation is nowhere to be found. Goals are not achieved on the easy days. They are achieved when you don’t want to act, but you still do because you need to.