Motivation. It's that drive to keep going, to push your mind and body to their limits, and to try new things. It's what keeps us going when times are tough and allows us to do the impossible. But staying motivated isn't easy; even the best of us experience a loss of motivation from time to time. But as a high school student taking more college credit hours than most college students while balancing varsity sports year-round, I've learned some key, hidden secrets about motivation that changed my life. And I promise that they'll change yours as well.
Set Small, Achievable Goals
Oftentimes, we'll set massive goals for ourselves that aren't attainable for multiple years, which makes it seem like we're not making any progress at all towards them, even if we are. This stagnation can be one of the most demotivating things, so it's important to set small goals for ourselves that we can achieve regularly. For example, my current 1600m personal record in track is 4:59. If I want to hit the 4:30 mark, I should make small, more attainable goals to ensure that I stay motivated. For my next meet, I think I'll aim for 4:50, which brings me closer to my long-term goal without being too unrealistic.
Tell Everyone
One of the most famous runners in the world is Noah Lyles, a track and field sprinter from the United States Olympic team. Lyles is disliked by many for his arrogance and air of superiority, which contrasts sharply against other competitors who are humble and don't bother with talking about their goals. For example, going into the Paris 2024 Olympics, Lyles was considered to be the 200m favorite to win. However, in the months leading up to the Olympics, he told everyone he was going to win the 100m as well, an event that was definitely out of his comfort zone. But this wasn't just a manifestation of his arrogance: it was a subtle mind game that he knew would help him perform at his best.
Lyles knew that if he told everyone he was going to win at the 100m, he would force himself to train at his best in the months leading up to the Olympics. He knew that he would force himself to work as hard as he could, because he couldn't slack off after telling everyone he was going to win. And guess what? Noah Lyles won the event by five-thousandths of a second. He had officially become the fastest man in the world at an event that wasn't even his own! And although he performed poorly in the 200m (due to sickness), he used the mind game of the 100m to win it all. So while the stakes may not be as high for the rest of us, this proves that telling others about your goals will motivate you to stick with them.
Motivation vs. Discipline
In the end, there are an unlimited amount of small tricks like those mentioned above that will help you stay consistent and on track to reach your goals. But none of them will be as effective as having pure discipline. What is discipline? It's having the mentality to grind through the long hours of school, to go to the gym on Saturday morning, or to stay in the office on Friday night. There are no tricks to discipline. It's pure mental toughness and that's all it is. But while it may be the toughest way to achieve your goals, it's also the most effective. It will allow you to achieve things that you once thought were impossible. So while it is helpful to use small tricks for motivation such as those mentioned above, I encourage you to focus on your own discipline. And I promise that it will change your life for the better. As Jim Rohn put it, "We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret and disappointment."