How To Achieve Your Goals Even When You Don’t Feel Motivated

I share how you can achieve your goals without feeling motivated or inspired, and why you can't rely on motivation if you're serious about your goals

When we talk about goals we often talk about hope.

We hope we can save money. We hope we can go to the gym everyday. We hope we can resist the sale at Sephora.

But I think what we really mean (myself included) is that we hope we can stay motivated long enough to save money, to go to the gym everyday, to resist the sale. And this is exactly the problem.

No one is motivated all of the time. Seriously, no one.

Some people think I feel motivated all the time – I definitely don’t. And I’ve never met a single person who does.

The truth about motivation

No one always feels like going for a run or waking up on the first alarm. No one always feels like saving money or eating healthy food or doing whatever it is they promised themselves they would do.

But there are people who always do these things.

So how do they do it?

They have a system, a routine, that is completely detached from how they feel.

Whether or not they doing something is not dictated by how they feel in that moment. They don’t rely on motivation because they know it’s not always going to be there. They accept they won’t always feel like doing it and figure out a system that will keep them doing it anyway.

Do you want your new habit to be ‘saving money when I feel like it’ or do you want it to be ‘saving money‘? ‘Going to the gym when I feel like it’ or ‘going to the gym‘? If it’s the latter options then good for you, you’ll definitely achieve your goal!

How to achieve your goals without motivation

The only way I have ever been able to achieve any kind of satisfying, meaningful goal is to accept that I’m not always going to feel motivated (no matter how keen I am at the beginning) and set up a routine that’ll get me through.

The ability to do something when you don’t feel like doing it is so underrated and so critical to success.

You’re not always going to feel like sticking to your new habit.

A habit isn’t something that we always feel like doing. A habit is something that we always do, regardless of how we feel.

So you don’t need to hope you can stay motivated – that is not the real problem. All you need to do is put a system in place that will keep you going when you have no motivation. And anyway, we don’t need to hope we can do something. We have 100% control over what we do and do not do.

Here’s something to help you achieve your goals

I know it’s not easy to make yourself do things when you don’t feel like it. And I know it’s not easy to apply this stuff in real life without a really specific example.

So I’ve created a free detailed guide to share everything I learned about discipline and motivation when I completed Kayla Itsines’ 12-Week Bikini Body Guide (BBG) earlier this year.

When you start anything new, you’re going to feel motivated, excited and enthusiastic. But those feelings will wear off pretty quickly (especially if you’re not getting the results you were expecting). And while that’s completely normal, we still struggle to keep going once that initial motivation has worn off.

So in this free guide, I share step-by-step, actionable advice about how to push through and achieve your goals! And although the guide is specifically about a completing a fitness program, the lessons in the guide can be applied to any goal!

If you’ve ever struggled with achieving a goal or sticking to a habit once that initial motivation has worn off, I really encourage you to download a free copy of the guide now:

What do you think?

How much importance do you place on staying motivated? Have you got a routine or system that keeps you going when you’re seriously lacking inspiration?

Sam xx


P.S. If you’re a procrastinator, keep reading to learn about my online course for procrastinators called Get Out Of Your Own Way:

Take your life to the next level

Four years ago, I found myself trapped in a vicious cycle of procrastination and guilt. Whenever I tried to do simple life tasks (like going to the gym, eating right and organising my time) it felt like I was trying to move mountains!

After work, I was too exhausted to do anything more than make food and lay in bed watching another episode of my favourite show. I kept telling myself I deserved a break, but I never enjoyed it. I felt guilty for wasting my time but I didn’t stop (and when I did find myself with time to do the things I wanted, I just kept procrastinating – gahh!).

And I wish it stopped there, but then I beat myself up for procrastinating! I felt like I was behind everyone else and letting everyone down, so I procrastinated even more.

No matter how many hours I spent reading motivation articles on Pinterest or how many times I filled out a new planner, I just couldn’t make myself change – even though I knew I was the one stopping myself from progressing. And I had all the advice right in front of me!

And because this whole situation was frustrating AF (and I knew I was better than that, even though I didn’t have the evidence to prove it) I dedicated myself to figuring out how to stop sabotaging my own success.

After trying hundreds of different things, it finally clicked! And this year I’ve been able to quit my full-time job for blogging, I’m more productive and focused than I’ve ever been in my life and I’ve finally stopped feeling like I’m behind! Plus it’s actually easy to workout everyday and eat healthy (which I never thought would be possible).

And since everything I’ve learned has COMPLETELY changed my life, I decided to put the very best of it together in a step-by-step course!

Get Out Of Your Own Way-6

My online course for procrastinators

Get Out Of Your Own Way is a self-paced online video course that gives you the tools and mindset shifts you need to stop procrastinating, follow through with all your plans and have the courage to finally pursue your dreams – even if your life is totally overwhelming and you have no idea what you want to do!

I’ll just let you know that this course won’t be for you if you’re looking for quick-fix procrastination tips (let’s be real – you’ve seen all those already and they haven’t worked) or you’re afraid to dig deep and uncover the real reasons you’ve been holding yourself back.

But if you’re ready to make a change and need someone to guide you through the very first step – it could be just the thing you need!

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!

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Can't stay motivated to workout or exercise? Find out how to stick to a daily habit like exercise or healthy eating without motivation. Must-read life advice for twenty-somethings and millennials!
Can't stay motivated to achieve your goals in your twenties? Find out how to stick to a daily habit like exercise or healthy eating without motivation. Must-read life advice for twenty-somethings and millennials!

Author: Sam Brown

  • Hi Sam,
    I recently finished The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen, a book you
    recommended, and I found it so powerful! I started reading a personal
    development book each day, watching/reading the news and completing an ab
    challenge each day. I feel like now I have a good routine, so even when I
    can only do my ab challenge at night when I’m supper tired, I still do
    it because it is a part of my routine. Thanks for the recommendation and
    the nice post!

    • Hey Vicki,

      Yes! I’m so glad you loved the book (I feel like I need to stop raving about it because people will get sick of it but I won’t haha). I developed my morning routine from that book too and have found it so incredibly powerful!

      I’d love to know what else you’ve been reading!

      Sam xx

      • Hey Sam,
        I’m reading One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Dr. Robert Maurer. The book basically stresses beginning with the smallest step (title gives it away:)) and how it can make a huge difference. So far, I love the chapter on asking yourself little questions each day and imagining something in your life the way you want it to be (just 30 seconds). This can get your mind thinking in that direction and eventually change something in your life for the better. Then, I’ll probably move to some of the recommendations from The Slight Edge. I’m trying to get my sister to read it!

        What about you? Have a great week!

      • Vicki that book sounds so up my alley it’s not even funny haha I am definitely, definitely, definitely going to get it in my next lot of purchases from book depository!

        Haha I’m trying to get everyone to read The Slight Edge but I think when I get so ravey about a book other people are sceptical about whether it can live up to the hype (but I still try!) I hope your sister reads it!

        I’ll be sharing what I’m reading in the Smart Twenties Book Club in about a week but the main ones at the moment are Playing Big by Tara Mohr and The Richest Man in Babylon (which I only have a few pages left of). I am loving both!

        Sam xx

  • Great post. I definitely agree with you that success really comes from getting out of bed and doing the things we “want” to do even when we do not want to do them. Oftentimes we focus on what the end result of doing the “want” would be – a better body, more money in our bank account, etc. But don’t actually want to realistically put the work in that it takes to achieve those goals – and when social media presents people so APPEAR as to have all these things without trying it makes it hard for many people to understand that success takes WORK! In my opinion though, working towards a goal – working towards what we want – even when we may not want to get off the sofa and run a few miles, makes the whole thing more fulfilling in the end when we finally “get what we want”.

    Rae | love from berlin

    • Hey Rae,

      Thanks so much for your lovely comment!

      Everything you say is 100% true and I definitely agree that the fact that it’s hard to keep going is what makes it so rewarding at the end! As my Bikram yoga teaching says – if it was easy you wouldn’t keep coming back.

      Sam xx

  • This is exactly what I needed. I’m so happy this popped up on my Pinterest feed. I try to stay motivated by taking breaks and getting inspo via Pinterest and Insta. Thanks for sharing!

  • This is so good! Thank you so much for sharing! In this new year, so many people lack the enthusiasm they need to achieve their goals, but if you’ve created a new habit and take actionable steps to get there, you WILL get to your big goal! Thanks again!

  • I love this post! Two years later it is still highly relevant! It’s so true I have to wake up early every morning even on Saturday’s but I do it out of routine. Now i’m attempting to add new things to this routine to reach my goals. Great post!!

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