Discipline Wins Over Motivation Every Time

I have a confession. I’ve been doing it all backwards for a very long time and not really known it.

I grew up in the age of Tony Robbins and other motivational speakers. Start with the “why.” The results will come.

It wasn’t Robbin’s fault or Covey’s or anyone else’s. I just got hung up on the motivation. And I waited for it to come.

It did at times, but not consistently. I had some discipline, but it took second seat.
Looking back, all the major transformations were a result of discipline.

Getting a master’s degree required weekly homework, which required daily study, contemplation, and writing.

12-Step working with a sponsor required weekly meetings, which required daily study and check-ins, which led to a recovery mindset and success.

@#$ your motivation. You need discipline, because motivation's not there every day.

I'm missing motivation most days. 
Yeah, some days I’ve got motivation. Some days are like, yeah, today I feel good. I can't wait to get to the gym. 


But a lot of days, I’m like, ‘gotta get to the gym.’ And then once I get going, then I feel great when it's over.

But it's that beginning part that's hard, because your body wants to stay comfortable for motivation. 


You need discipline.

- Joe Rogan

Proverbs 13:4 (The Message Version) states, “indolence wants it all and gets nothing; diligence gets results.”

I’ve loved watching The Chosen’s depiction of Christ. It has got me thinking a lot about how He “came to” and learned and improved from “grace to grace.” Certainly, Mary and Joseph would have shared with Jesus as a child His role and purpose in life. But He had to accept it, feel it, and apply it.

We know much about what Jesus said, but His miracles came in what He did to physically, emotionally, and spiritually heal others.

For 2026 I’m focusing a lot less on the “why” or motivation and a lot more on the “how” and getting after it. I rarely want to go to the gym, but I almost always leave it feeling better.

My YouTube algorithm can waste a lot of my time, but I’ve been training it to give me useful information and the “how to” for life transformation.

My piano keyboard sits less than a foot from my right side, but when I turn to the right and launch the piano teaching app I begin to relearn and hone my talent.

Whatever it is that you want to do this year, I hope you have already started doing it. And keep doing it :-).