Many times over I've heard people tell me "they wish they had my motivation" or "they wish they were as dedicated as me." Well first let me tell you, I wasn't always this way and when I started on my fitness journey, I had no goals or any clue what I was doing. I didn't follow any programs. I didn't know anything about nutrition and the main reason I started wasn't because I wanted to be healthier. My reason for starting was because I was always the "skinny kid" and I was intimidated of guys who had a better physique and jealous because the women that I found attractive, found "those guys" more attractive than me! Fast forward 8 years later and I have a better grasp on diet, overload progression, and program design.
Often times motivation is confused with discipline. It's easy to believe that if a person wakes up early to workout they are motivated and that's not actually true. Honesty, I used to HATE waking up early, especially before I had kids. Granted being in the Navy 15 years changes a lot about how my schedule functions but nonetheless, it didn't just happen this way.
Routine, Routine, Routine! What is routine? Routine is defined as a sequence of actions that is regularly followed or a fixed program. So how does routine build discipline? Well let's look at it outside of fitness. Why do you go to work? To make money right? You're not always motivated to go to work but you know that there are consequences to not going to work, whether it's disciplinary or possible lost of job, that affects your income. Going to work is in your routine so that you can make money. Along with that you have a time that you usually go to bed so that you can get enough rest to wake up at a certain to get ready for work. You do this everyday motivated or not, your routine has disciplined you to perform these actions even when you don't want to.
The same goes for fitness. Not all the time am I (or you) will be motivated to do anything but you know how you would feel if you didn't. For me my day is usually off-centered. It always feels like something is wrong or I'm missing something. I'm mentally off-balance because I missed something within my normal routine and that's how I treat fitness. So because fitness is a part of my daily routine, I've discipline myself to never skip it regardless of how I feel. The only exception is if I'm sick. This goes for rest as well. Some may feel as though that have to work, work, work, work (in my Rhianna voice) but we must have rest in your routine as well. Remember the body grows and heals through rest... not work!
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