on motivation & discipline
At the start of each year, most of us are either ready to embrace motivation or reject it. When I use “reject”, I don’t mean ever to be motivated, but instead be disciplined.
Yet, the hashtag #motivationmonday is one of the top social media hashtags used at the onset of the workweek. Those who cringe at the word motivation, favor the word discipline. Why? I think it’s because some view “motivation” as a trendy buzzword used by those who want to be productive but lack discipline.
Everyone struggles with motivation because it wavers and isn’t always present, but that’s where discipline steps up. I believe that it's impossible to develop a strong discipline without motivation and vice versa. Though in my opinion, motivation, and discipline work together to succeed in a goal.
The terms discipline and motivation are used interchangeably but have different meanings. Discipline defines as “control gained enforcing obedience or order.” It is the regimen of training your mind to perform a task or to change behavior. It’s a form of self-control to achieve a perceived outcome. Motivation defines as “having an incentive or a strong desire to do well or succeed in some pursuit.” It’s to have the desire or an incentive to perform a task, and I haven’t met a person yet who doesn’t love an incentive.
There are two types of motivators: external or internal. External motivation is based on a tangible outcome received once you perform the task, like a monetary work bonus. Internal motivation is the feeling you receive by performing a task, like reading or knitting. Though external motivation is generally a short-lived incentive, it still pushes you to form discipline.
Okay, it’s time for an example. Suppose you have a goal to live a nutritious lifestyle and the motivation is weight loss. So, to begin, you cut back on your sugar intake by ditching soda for water with your meals. You won’t be motivated to drink water every meal, but discipline will drive you to continue to choose water instead of soda.
Eventually, drinking more water will become a habit, like brushing your teeth, and done without much thought. The positive results (incentives), like more energy and weight loss, that you receive add motivation to further your discipline. Now whenever you’re thirsty, the motivation to drink water will not always be there, but the incentive will.
Motivation is the inspiration behind a discipline that helps in building a habit. That inspiration is an incentive, and it pushes us into a discipline. Both discipline and motivation are fueled by performance outcome, and both are needed for success.
