Discipline & Motivation

I recently tried to launch my Fit Foundations program. I started it with a free beta test. I wanted feedback, testimonials and a trial run. Work out all of the kinks. Well, it basically failed. By the end of the 3rd week, all beta testers had dropped out. I had a lot of feedback just from the early weeks and the small amount of participation to revamp and improve what is already there. I am motivated to make it better and have it succeed. I have the discipline to sit down and do the work to make it better when things like TV and shopping are so much more interesting. Then I had to tackle the big questions of "what went wrong?" and "how do I fix it?"

I started to think about why the members fell off. Was it because I didn't charge them? Was it a lack of motivation? Was it too hard or easy? What could I do to keep people past the first 3 weeks?

I noticed I felt motivated and disciplined, and wanted my members to feel the same. So I researched what motivates people and how to keep people interested. This is when I noticed how often the words motivation and discipline are being used when trying to get people to stick to a fitness routine. However, the more I really thought about it, I didn't have a clear understanding of the two words. I have always just kind of used them interchangeably.

The first thing I needed to do was understand definitions. Motivation explains why people start, continue or stop a certain behavior at a particular time. In other words, motivation is your WHY, the reason behind wanting to workout or eat healthy. It comes from a place of emotional connections. Discipline is the act of training yourself to do something until it becomes a habit. It is based on logic and thinking of feelings you will have in the future, not the feelings you have right now.

There is an emotional component usually involved with motivation. A "why" is hardly ever objective and in fact the stronger the emotional tie in to your "why", the more likely you are to succeed.

Well, discipline is often not dictated by emotion. Instead, there is decisiveness and less temptation.

Discipline is necessary and a great compliment for when your motivation starts to lack or wander.

It's 5 am, your alarm goes off for your workout. Do you get up or hit snooze? On the days you hop right out of bed and get moving it's most likely due to your motivation; your emotional connection and your why. It is on these days that you are training your discipline. You are using your motivation to put one foot in front of the other. Your body is learning to get up, get moving and stay the course. Then on the days that are hard, when there are 101 excuses as to why you shouldn't, your discipline kicks in and takes over. All emotion aside, you grumble and groan, but you get up, put one foot in front of the other, and stay the course anyway. You push aside the emotion (excuses), and you are not tempted by it. You think about the later that day, week or month if you get up and get the workout in. You make a decision to get up today because you know you will feel better and be one step closer to your goal when you are done.

Motivation is what gets you started, what allows you to dream big and create goals. Discipline is what keeps you on track and pushing through the tough times.

I now know that when it came to creating my program my motivation was in trying to help as many women as possible with my program and being successful. However, on the days that watching Bravo or Netflix seemed more appealing, I was disciplined and got the work done anyway. I knew I would feel better with a stronger program and new details. It became almost cyclical for me. After trudging through with discipline for a few days and making a large dent in my work, I was suddenly motivated again from the progress I made and new excitement kicked in.

Think of a time where you succeeded or failed. How did motivation and discipline look for you?