"I really don't feel like it today". "What's one day gonna hurt?" Ever hear yourself say that? How about, "He's just a machine", "She just got lucky", "I wish I could..." or "I have no idea how they..."?
All of these statements are simply deflections of the truth. When it comes to accomplishing anything in life, your feelings don't mean diddly, and motivation is momentary. The only thing that truly matters is the standards you set for yourself and the consistency with which you apply them.
"Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don't know if profit will come from one activity or another- or maybe both." (Ecclesiastes 11:6)
Whether your business success, your physical condition, spiritual life, or your savings account, with few exceptions, your measure of success today is based on the activities of many yesterdays. The bad news is that yesterday is behind you. The good news is that tomorrow is not. Swap out your excuses for standards and create disciplines in your life until those standards become habits.
Every activity you do today impacts your results tomorrow, good or bad. Want more business tomorrow? Make more calls, connections, and meetings today. Want to lose weight? Swap out coke for water or sweets for veggies. Get in better shape? Get off the elevator and take the stairs, or start with a few minutes of exercise every day. Go deeper in your faith? Read for 5-10 minutes a day. Improve mental health? Drop Instagram and feed your mind with truth. Grow your savings account? Make your own coffee and put the Starbucks money into savings. Deepen a relationship? Spend more time together and try listening and truly sharing, every day.
These are good places to start. Then, as you mature in your discipline and forced activities become habits, add a little more and then a little more. Over time, you'll wake up and be happy with what you have accomplished. It's not complicated, it's boring, mundane, consistent grind. And it works.
Felling leads to excuses and excuses to regret. Plant your seed in the morning and stay busy all afternoon. Do this consistently, over time, without excuses, and watch new habits emerge and your harvest abound. Don't look for motivation, choose the standards for your life, and turn them into habits.