Show up and do it

How many times have you heard someone say, “I don’t feel up to it right now?” My guess is, many times throughout your life. You might have even said it more than you would like. I know that I have. But, what does that statement even mean? Pondering this question unlocks one of the most important keys to success.

Definitions matter

If you define your willingness to do something by how you feel, then it will be very difficult for you to reach your potential. First, you are connecting an emotion with an event. The emotion is how you feel, and the event is what you need to do. These two should not be connected at all. Sometimes you feel good, and sometimes you feel bad. However, you always have things to do. Therefore, if you base your execution of tasks you need to complete on your emotion, you won’t accomplish much.

Second, success is about showing up and doing “that thing” regardless of how you feel. So, by limiting your ability to follow through based upon your feelings will hamper your success. Ninety percent of being successful in life can be attributed to doing what you need to do on a consistent basis. You will undoubtedly have more days that you have to ignore your feelings and push through than not. Success is hard enough to reach on its own. Don’t add additional roadblocks.

Force your way to success

Let’s keep it simple. You don’t feel like doing much of anything. Most of us don’t. Motivation is not about feeling motivated. Motivation is actually defined as, “to have motive for.” Motive is having a reason to do something. Notice, motive is not defined as “feeling” like doing something. To be successful, your reason for doing something has to override your feelings at any given point. Whether you feel good or bad on any given day, your reason to be motivated should not change. If you truly want to reach your potential, most days you will have to show up and force yourself to do things that you don’t feel like doing.