Motivation is unreliable (make this resolution instead)

Motivation is amazing fuel for action, but it is notoriously unreliable.

Some days, especially early on, you will be pumped to do something and will be able to leverage that energy to act.

On other days you will feel quite the opposite; you will be totally uninterested in taking action.

We’re talking about the pursuit of the same goal here.

The thought of leaving progress on our most prized goals to a sporadic schedule — that kind that leaves no indication of whether we will accomplish something in a month or in a year — would understandably leave many of us uneasy.

Yet, this is precisely the uneasy reality we sign ourselves up for when we agree to an I’ll-do-it-when-I-feel-like-it schedule.

The solution is a different kind of resolution — one that does not rely on motivation.

It is a resolution to do day in and day out what you know is required to make consistent progress whether you feel like it or not.

This isn’t necessarily a commitment to make the same contribution every day — life happens. But it is a commitment to make a contribution every day —certainly more on days when there is time and energy, potentially less on days when life throws you a curveball that you’ve got to catch.

Motivation is great when it’s there, but don’t make any plans that rely exclusively on it.