Motivation vs. Discipline: What Drives Your Success?
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When we succeed, it’s because something is driving us to do so. Is it motivation? Is it discipline? Is it a combination of the two? And when it comes down to it, how are motivation and discipline different?
If you have goals you’d like to work toward in any aspect of your life, it’s important to know what drives you, and understand how to harness these powerful tools to help you achieve your desired end-results. Let’s take a look at motivation, discipline, how they differ, and how each can help drive success.
What is Motivation?
According to author Patrick King, “Motivation is the collection of psychological forces that allow us to initiate, organize, and persist with behaviors that will ultimately lead us to the achievement of a goal.”
That sounds nice, but what does it actually mean? Motivation is that feeling, that inner drive that gives you a passion for your daily activities, and makes you excited to work on your goals. Motivation can either be intrinsic, or extrinsic.
Intrinsic motivation means that something is motivating us from within. It can be a sense of pride you feel from doing excellent work, the satisfaction of mastering a new skill, or even the belief that the work you’re doing makes the world a better place.
Extrinsic motivation, however, is fueled by external factors. Perhaps you know that if you finish a particular project you’ll receive a bonus, or if you continue to work hard in a certain area, you’re likely to be promoted.
What is Discipline?
Discipline, on the other hand, isn’t really connected to the good feelings we get when working on a goal or project. Instead, it’s being responsible enough to do what you know is required to reach your goal, even when you really don’t feel like doing it. Discipline is taking the next step to achieve your goal, even when you’d rather be doing anything else.
The Difference Between Motivation and Discipline
When it comes down to it, motivation and discipline make up two different parts of your goal achievement process. On one hand, motivation is your “why.” It’s the reason you do what you do, whether you’re intrinsically or extrinsically motivated. On the other hand, discipline describes the actions you actually take to work your way towards your goal. The key is to strike a balance between your motivation, which fuels your passion, and your discipline, which drives consistent action, and ensures you reach your goals effectively.
What’s More Important in Driving Success?
In reality, motivation and discipline are both important in driving your success. Without the necessary motivation, you’ll never care about the task or the goal enough to get started on it. However, all of the abstract motivation in the world is useless if you don’t follow through with discipline, ensuring you actually do all the things you set out to do.
It’s almost as if the motivation is the key in the ignition of the car, and discipline is making sure the car stays full of gas, following the GPS, and avoiding any tempting detours or distractions.
Transition from Motivation to Discipline
Motivation is the spark you need to get started. You need to be inspired, excited, and energized by any goal you set out to achieve. Without this initial spark, your plan will be dead in the water. However, you can’t just ride the wave of motivation forever.
There will be difficult days, and times when you don’t feel like staying focused on your goals. This is okay. It happens to everyone. However, this is where discipline comes in. The most successful people are the ones who make themselves soldier on toward their ultimate goals, even when they’d rather be doing anything else.
On your quest to achieve your goal, you may vacillate back and forth between motivation and discipline several times. This is only human. Just be sure to leverage both to ensure you stay on the path to success.
Taking Small Steps Towards Success
When you set a big goal, it can be intimidating, daunting, or even discouraging. That’s why it’s important to break goals down into smaller, more digestible steps. Not only will this give you a solid plan to follow, but it will also help you stop thinking of your objective as one gigantic, hard-to-attain goal, and instead think of it as a series of simple steps and goals you complete along the way.
Tips to Increase Your Self-Discipline
There are many tips and tricks you can use to increase your self-discipline, especially when you’re just starting out.
First, don’t try to focus on everything at once. This is both overwhelming, and counterproductive. For example, if your goal is to get into better physical condition, don’t try to overhaul your diet and exercise plan all at once. Start small. Add a daily walk to your routine. Once you’ve adjusted to that, incorporate more fruits, vegetables, and whole foods into your diet. Once that becomes second nature, add a weights routine, and so on, until you finally reach your goal.
Also, never forget your why. Although your motivation may wane over time, always remember what caused you to start down the path to success in the first place. When you’re struggling, visual aids may be helpful. For example, if you want to save money to purchase a new car, keep a photo of that car in a visible area in your home or workplace.
Keeping a to-do list can be a very rewarding and tangible way to track your progress. Make a list or lists of things you want to accomplish in a certain period of time and take pride in crossing each item off the list as you complete it.
The Role of Coaching in Your Path to Success
One of the most powerful tools or allies you can have when trying to succeed in a certain area is a personal life coach. Experienced coaches like Jonette Dyer are experts at identifying goals, helping you devise a plan to achieve them, and ensuring you stay on track. Her personal coaching services can be tailored to meet your unique needs, and she’ll work with you to help build your best life.
From
career coaching, to
leadership coaching, she knows what it takes to set a goal and work hard to achieve it, and she’s there to coach you through from start to finish.
By focusing on important things like defining your own version of success, developing strategies to achieve your goals, and understanding the importance of small actions, she’ll set you on the path towards success. Reach out to Jonette Dyer to begin your journey today.
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