Consistency beats motivation

You won't always feel like it. Do it anyway.

When I was podcasting five days a week, plenty of mornings I didn't feel like getting up to record. The microphone was there, the audience was there, the goal was there, but the feeling wasn't. And that's where most of us get stuck. We tell ourselves, “I’ll do it when I’m motivated.” So we wait. And the feeling doesn’t show up on schedule.

Then I realized motivation comes and goes, but my goal didn't move and my discipline didn't either. That's what carried me through. Not the feeling, the practice. You don't need motivation to be consistent. You need a goal worth showing up for.

Pick one thing you'll do every day for the next 7 days, small enough that “I don’t feel like it” can’t stop you. Write it down, set the time, and do day one today. Motivation can catch up later.

What's the nextstep? Next.

This is the Nextstep Method: Anchor, Wall, Snap, Nextstep. For more, follow Nextstep Notes every Thursday.

Kindness is cool, smiles are free.

Russ Johns