Beyond Motivation: The Power of Presence and Discipline

If you rely on motivation alone, you will fail. I say alone because it is an important part of the process. Primarily the decision making process.

All decisions are sparked by curiosity and the initial phase of information gathering is fueled by motivation. However, there will be a point in that phase when motivation starts to dry up and the information is not so exciting or shiny anymore. Yet, you know the outcome is worth the work you assume it takes to get there. This is where those reliant on motivation often quit and this is why the majority of our population never reach the goals they initially set out to achieve.

When we approach a goal with this understanding, we better position ourselves psychologically to push through the points of high resistance. We use the initial motivation to identify a long-term goal, then we use discipline and resilience to feed follow-through and ultimately, fulfillment.

This is where presence of mind is so vitally important. Presence of mind is not only the ability to stay calm in times of extreme stress and pressure, but the ability to acknowledge the feelings or lack thereof and take decisive action in spite of them. It’s the ability to move our subconscious closer to the person we want to be and the life we want to live and further from the person who only seeks short-term comfortability.