How to Conquer Your Goals When You Just Aren’t Feeling It

On January 3, 2022
By Chaya Ben-Shabat
0 Comments

Is it THAT kind of day?

You know, the kind when all you want to do is to ignore work and stare at the sunlight on cactuses outside your window?

(Or maybe it’s pinecones.)

And if you’re looking at the screen, wondering, “Wait, isn’t that…every day???” Congratulations, you’re human.

We all have days when we just don’t “feel like it,” which makes the following skill mission-critical when you’re setting your goals for 2022.

In this week’s vlog, we’re discussing the difference between motivation and discipline, and how you can joyfully rock your own world.

How do you do what you need to do when you just “don’t feel like it?”

Isn’t that the million-dollar question?

Whether it’s losing weight, getting financially fit, starting a new job, scaling your business, or investing in your relationships―you’re going to have to be willing to get uncomfortable. No one, not even me, is motivated all the time.

That’s because motivation is a feeling, whereas discipline is a skill. What’s the difference? Feelings are totally based on the chemical soup that’s happening in your body right now. A skill, however, does not care about your feelings. It’s something you learn to do no matter what’s going on inside.

Think about your day. There are always highs and lows. Times when you rise up and yell into the universe, “I AM GONNA CONQUER THE WORLD!!!!!!!!”

Then there are times when you just, well…you know.

So, that high you get after a coaching session, yoga in the moonlight, or listening to an amazing podcast―that’s when you’re feeling motivated. This is a natural emotion that comes after those initial sparks of inspiration.

But as you know, you can’t stay up there forever…no matter how much you want to.

If you haven’t yet mastered the skill of discipline, then these post-high slumps will hit you even harder. When this happens, your results will be at the mercy of your emotional cycle. And you will feel that everything is out of your control.

This is where discipline has to kick in.

If it doesn’t, you’ll be stuck in that slump until you magically “feel like it” again. So that health plan, financial plan and mega-dream-life plan will go into hibernation mode until something―or someone―kicks you back on up again.

Is that how you want to live? Do you really want to abandon your dreams, your family, yourself, simply because you are not in the mood right now?

Discipline is doing the work, even when you feel like a pumpkin. And you keep doing it and doing it, until the motivation fairy decides to come back and light you up.

This is incredibly empowering.

A skill, unlike emotion, is available to almost all of us, at all times, regardless of natural born gifts or talents. Anybody willing to put in the work, can actually learn and master a skill. It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how much money you make, who your daddy knows, or what world you grew up in. None of that matters.

Here’s why.

Being willing to put in the work―even when nothing else in your life is working for you―is what will deliver you to your desired victory. All it takes is becoming a student of skill.

No mystery, just mastery.

All skills possess the same basic formula of introduction, repetition, improvement and mastery.

Discipline is no different.

Once you make the commitment to be consistent with your effort, you can master discipline like any other skill such as learning a new language or doing crow pose.

To begin, ask yourself, “How can I apply discipline to my big goals in this brand new year?”

Remember, it doesn’t matter if you’ve set these goals in January or July, you can start working on your New Year’s resolutions in August or November―just like you can start a diet in the middle of a bag of potato chips or start earning your first million in the middle of bankruptcy.

Don’t let timing manipulate you.

And certainly don’t let timing stop you.

Before you become great, you’ve got to be good; before you become good, you’ve got to be mediocre; before you can even be mediocre, you’ve got to barely get the hang of it.

And to get the hang of it, you have to start ugly.

This is one of our life mottos here at Digging Deeper. Start ugly. Keep going, and get better as you go. Remember, consistency is always key if we truly want to create long term sustainable success in our lives.

Without a doubt, developing the skill and becoming a master of true self discipline is one of the critical keys that will unlock the door to every dream you have in life. And I’m right here with you, my friend, digging deeper for success together.