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You see an ad for a bathing suit you love, but are too afraid to wear it because of how it will look on you.
So you decide to join a gym and start exercising.
You watch a 4 minute youtube video on how Keto just magically burns fat off your body.
So you get motivated to start a new diet to drop some pounds.
While this is all exceptional, what happens when 5 days in your kid get sick and you can’t make it to the gym?
What happens when you don’t wanna have the plain chicken and broccoli for your scheduled meal?
This is what separates motivation vs discipline, and we are going to dive into the process of making these decisions today.
Motivation Vs Discipline: Who Wins?
I first want to just touch on the differences between discipline and motivation because they are two entirely different things and most people have a lot of one and not a lot of the other.
Motivation is something most people have. Believe it or not. Motivation is something that most people have an abundance of.
They really get motivated. They really get amped up. They really say, “Okay, you know what, I want to change my body, I want to change my physique, I have this goal, I have that goal I want to attain. I really, really, am going to do everything I can to get towards that goal.”
The problem is, that doesn’t always lead to the goal they want, obviously.
If that was the case, everybody would be ripped, everybody would be jacked, everybody’d have nice cars.
All the above.
The thing is you can get motivation from anywhere, which is a good or bad thing.
You can get motivated from watching a three minute YouTube video of David Goggins or a three minute YouTube video of the Rock.
You can get motivated by seeing one of your favorite celebrities on TV look so great and you’re like, “Wow, I really want to look like that. I really want to start getting my body in shape and my mind in shape and I want to start doing the things it takes to get to that point.”
But the thing is what happens when that motivation wears off?
What happens when that 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, 36 hours goes by and you’re not fired up anymore?
What happens when real life hits and your kids get sick and you can’t make it to the gym and you’ve got to miss meals and you have to do this and that and it’s going to throw you off of your perfect routine that you have?
Are you still going to be that motivated or are you going to be like, “Eh, this is a little fucking hard. I’m going to sit this one out. I’m not going to make this decision to help me get closer to my goals because it’s a little difficult right now. I’m facing a little friction. I’m facing a little bit of tough times. It’s not going the way I want it to. It’s not going the way I planned it too. So, you know what? I’m probably just going to just sit this one out and get back to it on Monday, or I’m going to sit this one out, get to it after summer’s over. So my kids can go back to school and I can get back into my routine.”
That’s what I see a lot of the times.
People fizzle out because your motivation can only last so long.
Don’t get me wrong. Motivation is great.
Everybody has to start somewhere.
And I’m not saying motivation is wrong.
What I am saying is if you don’t turn that motivation into consistency and discipline, that’s where you go wrong.
And that’s where most people do go wrong.
If you look at gyms across the country, this is why after the first month 90% of people stop showing up.
90%, think about that.
They don’t have what it takes to see it through.
That that’s what discipline is.
Discipline is making the hard decisions, making the right decisions when it’s hard, making the decisions that you know are going to make you better, but you know are going to be uncomfortable at this very moment in time.
You know it’s going to be a pain in the ass to do it.
You know it’s not going to be fun to do it, but you still make the decision anyway. You still make the conscious effort to say, “Hey, I set a goal for myself and I want to achieve that goal.”
My question to you is, how important is your goal?
Is it really that important you want to lose 30 pounds?
Because you tell me tracking your calories is too much work.
So if you can’t even track your calories, how really important is losing 30 pounds to you?
If you know that tracking your calories is going to help you lose weight, but you won’t do it, you are bullshitting yourself.
Your goal is not that important and stop lying to yourself.
It’s okay, but don’t lie to yourself and say that you really want to drop 30 pounds when you don’t want to do what it takes to drop those 30 pounds.
Discipline is, getting to the gym and saying, “You know what? Fuck, I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here. I’m fucking tired. I don’t want to do this today.”
And still going in and doing it.
Still going home after and eating a nutritious meal to follow it up.
I’m going to stay here for a second because I think it’s very important, that discipline is making decisions you’re proud of.
I don’t know anybody in this world who has ever gone to the gym and walked out and said, “Man, you know, I’m really pissed I did that workout today. I wish I wouldn’t have done that workout.”
“Man, I’m really pissed I stick to my calories, and I’m really pissed I didn’t have that ice cream, because, you know, stack up wins to reach my goals.”
Ever heard someone say that? Me either.
Discipline is making decisions you’re proud of.
One great example I want to give to you guys is I don’t drink alcohol.
I haven’t drank since my high school senior week.
Whenever I tell people that, it’s always a stun to them because I’m this 23 year old guy who doesn’t drink and that is so foreign to everybody.
But I get the same response every single time.
And that is “Wow man, good for you. That’s awesome. You should be so proud of yourself.”
Okay, great.
Well why is it awesome for me and not awesome for you?
Why would you be so proud of that decision, but you can’t do it yourself?
I’ve never understood that.
When I tell people I don’t drink and I’m not going to drink they are always so stoked for me, they’re so pumped, but for some reason they’re not the same for themselves.
But, beside that point, what I am getting at is it’s a decision I’m proud of.
Whether you like it or not, whether you do it or not, that’s beside the point.
I’m not saying it’s good or bad, I’m not saying you need to follow me.
What I am saying is, though, I’m making decisions that I’m proud of.
I know that me not drinking is going to help me reach my goals, whether it’s business, fitness, personal relationships, financially.
Let’s segue all this back around to I know what it takes.
I know what it takes to have discipline.
I have it week after week after week, year after year after year.
I know what it takes to make these tough decisions, to stay disciplined, to get to my goals.
This is something that’s a skill. You have to practice it, you have to learn it, you have to give your all to it, or else it’s not going to give back to you.
I guarantee you guys, when you guys can learn that, when you can finally get that realization of the difference between motivation and discipline, you guys are going to see fucking amazing results and I guarantee that.
Another great example is right now.
I’m recording this on a Wednesday night. It’s 8:45 at night. I’ve been up since 3:30.
I’ve been sick for the past week. I am doing this right now so I can give this content to you so I can help you with your fitness goals, with your mental goals, with your personal goals.
I don’t have to do this shit. I could easily get home right now and go right to fucking bed.
That would be a lot easier for me probably.
But that’s not what I’m about.
I made this commitment to myself to try to help people as much as I can.
Honestly but does fulfill me and I love doing it, but that’s what I’m kind of showing to you guys.
I told myself I was going to go more in depth on this topic today.
I did this because one of you guys reached out to me and said that it would be an awesome idea and that it would help them a lot.
And you know what? I agreed and I said, “Yeah, that absolutely would help people a lot. So I’m absolutely going to do a podcast tonight and I’m going to give it to you because that’s what you want.”
So that’s what you should start to realize is not every decision is going to be easy.
Not every single time is it going to be easy. I have worked since 3:30am. It’s 9pm and I am still working to produce content, help you guys, and reach my goals.
These things take discipline, these decisions take discipline, and I want you guys to start realizing that not every single time is going to be fluffy and perfect.
Not every single time is going to be easy. It’s not supposed to be easy.
Having a great physique, having a great body, it’s not easy.
It takes hard work, it takes tough times, it takes up and downs.
And it takes discipline week after week after week, making the right decision you know you should make to help get to your goals.
This is not me bragging about myself, I’m just saying this so I can lay the framework so you can realize that I know what you go through.
I can distinctly remember one day in 12th grade, I went to a party at my best friend Chris Lobas’ house.
I distinctly remember this because I was taking a picture with someone, and I wasn’t drinking.
My other friend at the time said something in the background, “Oh, Eric’s not fucking drinking because he has chest day tomorrow.”
And I was like, “Yeah, you’re fucking right bud.”
In my head I said to myself, “I got to go hit the gym in the morning. I’m not drinking, I’m not going to be fucking hung over when I go work out because my working out goals, my fitness goals mean more to me right now than drinking this beer, than being hung over the next morning and feeling like shit and not giving 100% to my workouts.”
And that’s why, to this day, I don’t drink. I need to be 100%. I want to give my goals 1000 percent of what I have.
So even one beer might put me at 99%, and I can’t fucking have that. I want to be 100% all the time.
It started a while back for me. I know what it takes to make these tough decisions.
Of course I wanted to stay with my boys and fucking party a little bit, but not as much as I wanted to hit my goals, not as much as I wanted my ambition.
So that’s what you guys have to realize when you’re making these decisions. When you’re like, “Should I do this or should I do that? Is this okay or is this not okay?” What really matters to you? What matters in the longterm? What fucking sets a fire in your stomach? Honestly. Be honest with yourself. Is losing 30 pounds, does that set of fire in your stomach?
Day in the Life: Discipline Decision Making
I want to give you guys examples of my day by day decision making.
I understand this decision making is not easy.
But honestly it will become second nature.
That’s exactly what I want for you.
The first one, like I already kind of alluded to, I woke up at 3:30 this morning.
That’s typical day. I wake up at 3:30. Now, do I have to wake up at 3:30? No, I could easily sleep until 4:15 or 4:30 or 3:45. I could easily sleep until 4:30, skip breakfast, walk right out the door, and go to work. Easily I could do that. That’s what most people probably do. I’d easy sleep until 3:45 and have a half-ass breakfast, and I say half ass because I wake up and have eight eggs, two cups of rice, banana, and sometimes a bowl of Rice Krispies treats.
But I could easily be like, “Yeah, I’ll have a protein shake and banana and I’ll be on my way.”
That would probably be easier. But is it going to help my goals? Is it going to help me gain muscle? Is it going to help me fuel my energy for the day so I can have energy for my clients who need me and who rely on me to be there for them every single day?
No, no, it would not. It would not help me reach my goals. So I’m not going to make that decision. I’m going to make the decision to wake up at 3:30, so I can cook my breakfast, so I can eat my breakfast, so I can be mentally ready to go when I step foot into my training facility, because that’s what matters to me, that is my goal. That is what I want to do.
So I’m making the decisions, no matter how hard it is, or how uncomfortable it is, or how much of a “burden” it is to do that.
Truth be told it’s not a burden. I’ll do it every single day if it helps me reach my goals.
Yes it is maybe difficult to wake up at 3:30, but what is my end goal? What really matters to me? What do I have in mind when I’m making these decisions?
This is how I want your brain to start operating.
Another example, staying right on that line is I start my class at 5:00am.
I could easily get there at 5:00 and just start setting stuff up and just be like “Hey guys, we can get going, but I’m not set up yet. But let’s get going!”
I easily could not care. I could easily say get more sleep. But, I want to get there earlier so I can set up, so by the time my clients do get there, everything is set up ready to go, and I’m not spending time setting the workout up when I should be spending time motivating them, correcting their form, making sure they’re good, learning about their day, hearing about what happened yesterday at their kid’s soccer game.
Again, that is much more important to me, so I’m going to do what it takes to be able to have that.
I don’t care if it means I get there 45 minutes early to set up for 15 minutes and just make sure everything’s good. That’s a decision I make and it takes discipline to make that decision, but the discipline comes from keeping the end goal in mind.
Moving on to the next thing is, this is more nutrition based.
6:30 AM rolls around. So I ate at about 4:00am, so 6:30 AM rolls around, and I have to eat again.
Believe it or not, yes, sometimes I am not hungry to eat that meal. I have to have two cups of rice at least and then eight ounces of steak.
But I have to eat that meal, and sometimes I’m not hungry to eat that meal, but I have to do it anyway.
I have to eat that food because it’s going to fuel me, and I know I have to do it for my goals to have a good workout, to have good energy for my clients when I coach.
I have to do it. As much as I may not want to eat at that moment in time, I have to be disciplined enough to make the decision to eat it.
And I know some of you guys are like, “Oh my God, fucking food. Yeah, that’s a really tough decision.”
But if you have ever tried yourself or talked to someone who wants to gain weight, you’ll know when you eat 6000 calories a day, it is difficult to eat at times.
Regardless, it takes discipline day after day after day after day, 6:30, 6:30, 6:30, 6:30, every single week.
It’s like clockwork. It takes discipline to make that decision every single day to do that.
That being said, what is the end goal? The end goal is to have energy for my clients and to have energy for my workouts.
Those are the two most important things, I’m going to do that no matter what it takes.
Wrap Up
I hope this gave you some insight on how you should structure the way you look at decision making towards your goals.
I hope it made you see the difference between motivation vs discipline, and which one leads to long term results.
Try implementing these into your daily life. Set yourself a goal.
Keep that goal in mind and become obsessed with that, and you will make your decisions on that long term goal, not on short term fixes.
If you do that, I promise your decision making will get a whole lot easier.
And you will see a new world of results open up to you.