Lesson 7. Making motivation last

Welcome back to Methods to Motivation, a free multi-part course on how to gain + maintain motivation. Here’s what we’ve covered so far:

• 1. Clarify what you want
• 2. Internalize your motivation
• 3. Motion leads to motivation
• 4. When your goals are vague, motivation will fade
• 5. Find the Why behind your motivation
• 6. Turn rejection into motivation

Now, let’s move on to our final lesson…

Making motivation last

In this final lesson, you’ll learn the real secret to making motivation last over the long run.

NO ONE can be motivated all the time.

Oftentimes, people say to me, “Wow Dean, you’re so motivated.”

But here’s the truth: I just look like I’m motivated all the time, when in reality I’ve just been diligent about installing several keystone habits in the areas of my life that matter to me most.

You see, I don’t have to muster up the motivation to get up at 5 AM every morning, because it’s a habit.

I don’t have to motivate myself to focus on writing every day, because it’s a habit.

I don’t have to get motivated to go to the gym every day, because it’s a habit.

I don’t have to motivate myself to do ANYTHING that I’ve already become habituated to, because habits are things we do regularly and automatically with little or no conscious thought or effort.

So, here’s the real question:

How do you develop habits?

How to apply this method

In general, any habit can be broken down into a three-part loop that goes like this:

• 1. Cue—something in your environment that sets off a habit. (You smell fresh cookies.)
• 2. Routine—the set of actions you take in response to the cue. (You eat the cookies.)
• 3. Reward—the results or feelings you experience from executing your habit. (You enjoy the reward of deliciousness. Or the pain of regret, if you knew you shouldn’t have eaten the cookie.)

Here’s a 5-step plan on how to develop a habit that you might typically think requires tons of motivation to stick with. You can use it as a guide for creating a habit of your own:

Let’s say you’re struggling to get motivated to exercise, and you’d like to change that by developing the habit of going to the gym five days a week.

Step 1. Identify the habit:

— Develop the habit of exercising 5 times per week.

Step 2. Identify your CUE:

— Every habit has a trigger that launches your desired behavior. Identify the one that regularly works for you.

Example: I’ll set my alarm to wake me up at 6 am every morning so that I can exercise before work.

Step 3. Identify the REWARD:

— What reward will you give yourself at the end of the behavior/habit. The reward can be anything, the key is the craving.

Example: Delicious protein shake, sense of accomplishment, endorphin rush.

Step 4. Execute the ROUTINE:

— The routine is the actual activity/behavior you want to become a habit.

Example: Drive to the gym and exercise.

Step 5. Write it down, make it happen:

— The simplest and most effective way to form a new habit is to write a plan. Use the following formula to write yours:

When ________,^cue I will ________^routine
because it provides me with ________^reward.

Example: When my alarm clock goes off at 6 am, ^cue I will jump out of bed and drive straight to the gym to exercise for 60 minutes ^routine because it provides me with a healthy lifestyle, a fit physique, and an energetic start to my day ^reward.