This is a big one — MOTIVATION. There are tons of hacks, tricks, and fixes everywhere because it is hands down everyone’s north star. We follow motivation and base our actions on what we feel motivated or NOT motivated to do.
Why?
Because motivation makes our decision EASY. We don’t have to THINK — we simply follow its force. Motivation is the desire or willingness to act in a certain way. It is a force that urges us to initiate something, continue doing something, or even to quit doing something. Yes, behind the action of QUITTING something there is a force that MOTIVATED you to STOP taking action.
When you lose the motivation to eat healthy, you are following the motivation to make other choices.
Pushing through the discomfort of this craving doesn’t feel good. I am MOTIVATED to eat ice cream.
Wacthing Netflix is way more motivating than doing my workout.
I am MOTIVATED to eat out versus prepping my meals.
Motivation doesn’t necessarily disappear. It gets redirected toward things that you deem to be more rewarding, whether you do it consciously or not.
Motivation is important because you are MOTIVATED to do the things that you LIKE. So when we lose motivation to get our workout in, it is because we are being MOTIVATED to seek out something else because we LIKE doing something else MORE than working out.
We are always going to seek out the things that we LIKE. We will ALWAYS find motivation for those things.
Understanding the chemistry behind motivation
If you have taken my course JumpStart before, we learned about dopamine. It is a neurotransmitter and hormone that motivates you to take action toward certain things, things that you get a reward from. We LIKE things that reward us.
Dopamine is part of the craving cycle. When you receive a reward from something, dopamine helps you remember it. You crave having it again. Dopamine MOTIVATES you to seek it out again. This is why scientists call it the motivation molecule.
Research shows that the foods that you LIKE spike your dopamine levels by 50%. So, when we are hungry, we are MOTIVATED to find the things that we LIKE. But what happens when we LIKE things that aren’t necessarily good for us? What happens when we follow our MOTIVATIONS blindly, when we let dopamine lead the way?
Well, things that top the dopamine payout list are meth, cocaine, nicotine, sex, porn, social media, video games, and sugar… Yes, sugar (and artificial sweeteners, even) is REALLY on that list. Anything that gives you immediate gratification drives dopamine. You get a payout from it, so dopamine motivates you to find these things later on. You eventually build up a tolerance to those things, so you need more and more to receive the expected reward. Over time, you stop receiving the reward at all, but at this point, you “use” to avoid the pain of withdrawals.
What motivation (and dopamine) has to do with weight loss
Most of us who are chasing goals start off strong. We are MOTIVATED to see results, so it helps us to push through discomfort. And in the beginning, we are seeing immediate results, due to losing inflammation. The weight, bloating, and discomfort are basically FALLING off. Then we hit fat loss, which is MUCH slower. The payout gets lower, and we become LESS interested in taking the actions that we were taking in the beginning.
We lose motivation because we are USED to being motivated by immediate gratification. Here we are, working our tails off, making all of these massive changes, yet nothing happens. We hit a stall, and frustration builds.
Motivation is DRIVE. It is FUN and FEELS good!
Frustration is a DOWNER. It is the OPPOSITE of feeling good. It tanks our motivation toward what we WERE doing.
We now have the motivation to make ourselves feel better, and our brain goes back to “old faithful” to do that.
This is the cycle we need to break.
Motivation is NOT your North Star
Stop hitching yourself to it and following it any which way it takes you. ESPECIALLY in the beginning. ESPECIALLY when we NOW KNOW that we are MOTIVATED to seek out what we LIKE. The thing is, what we LIKE is what we did to get to where we are today. So right now, we need to focus on learning to like NEW things, which is POSSIBLE because of how our brains are. If you don’t believe me, go watch the Reset Videos that explain habits.
When your motivation to eat whole foods and move your body starts to fade, your motivation toward other things will pick back up. You are going to be MOTIVATED to seek out dopamine…and remember, we are trying to RESET our dopamine setpoints to factory settings, not the modern world settings. I think we can all argue that that route doesn’t work out in our favor in this modern world. In this world, we have to train ourselves to not seek out what FEELS GOOD all of the time, and instead what is GOOD FOR US.
Eventually you reset and what is GOOD FOR YOU will FEEL GOOD, AND you will like it! So, you will be motivated to do those things. But that takes time.
Our ancestors would have felt shock at the sweetness of a blueberry. Yet, when someone tells me they are craving something sweet and I suggest blueberries, they are like, nope, that won’t cut it. That is because of the food that we have known for our entire lives. Not just the sugar itself but the sugar/fat combo in highly processed food, or the artificial sweeteners that are 1000 times sweeter than plain sugar.
Our ancestors probably CRAVED blueberries. Nowadays, we are craving blueberry cobbler ice cream with sprinkle and whip cream — and make it large.
We have been trained by the cereal industry to eat sweet things for breakfast, so that seems to be the HARDEST pattern for people to break. Because in the beginning, it’s fine. I am MOTIVATED to lose weight. But over some time, that motivation fades away, because progress is slower when we are dealing with straight up fat loss, so the PAYOUT isn’t there. So it doesn’t seem worth it to “suffer” through eggs anymore.
And right now, you don’t crave them because your dopamine/reward system has been developed in our modern world. Letting that reset, through a detox, if you will, will actually allow you to experience a normal dopamine response with eggs — when cooked right! Eggs are DELICIOUS, but when compared to artificially sweetened coffee creamer, yogurt, protein shakes, drinks, protein bars, etc., we just aren’t as motivated to seek out eggs.
Here is what we have to understand. When we are coming from a place where we have followed our motivations toward things that offer immediate gratification, we need to pause and allow the discomfort of letting those things reset.
I really like thinking about it like an iPhone. When you have downloaded way too many things and it starts to glitch, or you just need a clean start, you just “restore to factory settings”. I have done that in the past, and yes, it sucked because I lost some things, but I quickly realized that I didn’t really need them. Then I was WAY more selective moving forward about what I downloaded to the phone.
Long story short, when something has you feeling beat down, and you just don’t FEEL like doing the thing that you know you need to do, you cannot wait for MOTIVATION to strike. It’s not coming. You have to instead focus your energy on learning to LIKE the things that are good for you.
How to LIKE the things that are GOOD for you
1. Identify what you don’t like about the activity, and find solutions
Once we IDENTIFY what we DON’T like about it, we quickly move into problem solving mode. Don’t waste any precious energy complaining about it.
Start by listing out what you don’t like about the activity. Then find SOLUTIONS to those things instead of writing it off as, “well I just don’t like it. I really, really don’t!”
Saying things like this close the door to growth. It’s game over. If we want to move forward, and you don’t LIKE the thing that will help you to move forward, we better figure out a way.
WHY don’t you like it and how can you begin to like it more?
How can I change my attitude toward this thing that is good for me?
The brain is a POWERFUL tool and we just don’t leverage it ENOUGH. Your thoughts are POWERFUL. You know this if you have done the Metabolism Mastery mindset course.
2. Dilute the Activity. FIND THE GREY AREA
You have in your mind what it SHOULD look like, and that is too hard for you RIGHT NOW, so you choose to not do it at all. We REALLY fight against the all or nothing mentality here, because we know that MOST people don’t live in the ALL, because their version of that is beyond their skill level RIGHT NOW, so instead they choose nothing.
If you want to start running, you should not just lace up your shoes and go run 40 miles per week. You should BEGIN walking 30 minutes, 3-5 times per week. When that gets easier, you will throw in bursts of running. 1 minute or 2 minutes at a time. Then you slowly add to the running and pull back on the walking.
This applies to EVERYTHING. We have the tendency to jump into the all, and the SECOND we can’t do it ALL, we can’t take it and we quit. Just stop that and look for your grey area. Then, when you adapt, find the NEXT grey area.
3. Build New Habits
I talk about this one a LOT. We even have an entire video in the Reset program.
Habits are the KEY to NOT having to rely on motivation. They are routines that we have DEEPLY ingrained into our brains, so deeply that they are just part of who we are and what we do. They don’t require ANY thought at all.
We are all a product of our daily habits. So if we are going to GROW and change and EVOLVE, we need to continuously be “cleaning those up”. Breaking the ones that don’t serve us and building new ones that will help us level up.
Motivation is a powerful force, but it’s not something you can rely on to carry you through the tough moments
True, lasting change comes from resetting your habits, reprogramming your dopamine system, and learning to like the things that are good for you. It’s not about waiting for motivation to strike—it’s about taking intentional steps to build a life that aligns with your goals.
So, take a moment to reflect: What habits are holding you back, and what small changes can you make today to start moving forward? If you’re ready to stop chasing motivation and start creating real, sustainable progress, MYLF Coaching is here to help.
Click here to learn more about MYLF Coaching and how our programs can help you reset and thrive.
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