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Motivation Monday bullshit will never work, only discipline and persistence will carry you through the hard times.
Do you ever start at the bottom and look up? What’s that feel like? Do you think motivation Monday with a crappy meme is going to get you to the top?
I use to think with enough motivation I could get anywhere. I loved Motivation Monday and memes that would give sayings like “Just hand in there” and the cat holding on to a rope.
Now I understand that those will get you started, or let you take a step, but they will never get you to the top.
We all define our top differently. Your top should be reaching your goals. You set where you want to go and what you want to do. As soon as you figure that out, now you can actually get there.
Motivation Monday doesn’t help unless it pushes you towards where you want to go.
Once you get started it is discipline and persistence that gets you there. Every day you have to work on it. When you don’t want to do the thing that will push you towards your goal, that’s where pure discipline gets you going. And once you get going, persistence will keep you going in the right direction.
Last week I talked about how great things were going for me on my 75 Hard journey. Once I white-knuckled it and got going, I thought it would be easy. But in 75 days there will always be something that happens.
Last week our water softener went out and pumped all the membrane (a little fake sand that filters the water) into the pipes. I found out at 9:30 on Sunday night. Once I figure it out what it was, I had to flash all the pipes and get the water working in the house again. We had no water for a day.
Luckily I work for a car wash company that sells, repairs, and installs giant water softeners. I was able to get one and get some help installing it Monday after work. Last Monday was definitely not motivational.
I spent a couple of hours each night trying to get all the water going again. I have one faucet left after a week of work.
But I kept on doing all the things that are pushing me towards my life goals. I didn’t give up when there was an excuse to skip a day. I stayed on the 75 Hard Program.
Doing what needs to be done every day to improve you, is how you get better and reach your goals. Letting things get in the way is how you end up like most Americans, fat with high blood pressure. But as long as you are still fogging a mirror you can change where you are.
Pick your direction (your goal) and work on it every day. That’s how you win at life. That’s how you be disciplined. That’s how you get persistence.
This just doesn’t happen. You need practice. And that is what the 75 Hard Program is all about. It gives you a goal and makes you practice discipline and persistence.
I’m at day 21 and still moving forward.
What about you?
Ben Branam