Day 22: Motivation or Discipline

DISCLAIMER: THERE ISN'T ANYTHING MUCH WRITTEN IN THIS THAT YOU DON'T ALREADY KNOW. INSTEAD OF WASTING THE NEXT 15 MINS OF YOUR LIFE, JUST GO ON WITH IT. WELL IN CASE YOU WANT TO WASTE IT ANYWAY, DO NOT READ ANYTHING IN BRACKETS OR IN RED TEXT, THAT'S A BIT OUT OF CONTEXT USUALLY MY MIND OFF RAMPING. IT WILL SAVE YOU SOME TIME TO DO MORE IMPORTANT THINGS. (SOMETIMES IT'S GENUINE LINKS TO ARTICLES WITH MORE INFO SO READ AND CLICK IT). 

"Forgive me father for I have sinned." Very peculiar words, and yes I lied. Yesterday I wrote about how it doesn't take 21 days to form a habit. It actually does. You know before yesterday it was so difficult to get myself to just wake up altogether with the alarm, highly energised and ready to do stuff! But I have been doing it for the past 21 days. So when I woke up this morning I was highly expecting to be super energised and ready to do stuff, I wasn't. Yep, I wasn't. So I guess I was right yesterday it doesn't take 21 days. "Sorry father, I didn't sin I was just a bit confused." But well I'm awake still, so the main question would be if not habit then what ? 

I propose to you that I am awake now because I am highly motivated. Because I want to be the boy who wakes up early in 2025 and blogs first thing in the morning. That thought alone just motivates me to wake up everyday. Mhm...no, I'm lying. Well I guess it did day 1 and day, probably day 3 as well I don't remember but that motivation driven fuel or that fuel driven motivation it burnt out pretty much a long time ago. I'm still blogging though. 

See motivation is what scientists call 'activation energy' (minimum amount of energy required to start a chemical reaction, tribute to TJ high school chemistry teacher), if you have done barbaque (or braai if you are in Africa) Sundays motivation would be those small white bricks that are used to start a fire. They are just enough to start the fire but they don't really braai the meat now do they. I mean hey are all fiery and all but in order to actually braai the meat, you need something a bit more tough, hard and strong I'm even tempted to say black but I might be pointed out as racist but in the very core of it the properties of charcoal show some high level of grit and stubbornness, and that my friends is DISCIPLINE. That wakes me up!

When you peel back the layers of our daily routines, you quickly discover that the spark of motivation, as brilliant as it might appear in the early hours of a new idea, is a fickle ally. Sure, that jolt of inspiration might have you convinced that you’re destined to conquer the day, well even the world if you are as delusional as Genghis Khan but more often than not, it evaporates faster than a cheap cup of instant coffee. What then becomes of our dreams and daily plans? Discipline my friends: the slow-burning charcoal that outlasts any quick flash of motivation.

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The Motivation Mirage: Why the Spark Fades

A Brief Look at the Science

Research by Phillippa Lally and colleagues has shown that while the notion of “21 days” might sound appealing, habit formation is far more capricious averaging around 66 days for most behaviors. Motivation provides the initial push, much like the activation energy in a chemical reaction, but without the enduring heat of discipline, that push is merely a momentary flicker.

Many of us have experienced that moment of adrenaline-fueled determination a feeling that today, everything will be different. Yet, as the hours turn into days, reality intrudes. Without a deeper, more sustained commitment, motivation alone is like a sparkler in the wind: bright for a moment, then gone without a trace.

What is Discipline?

Discipline isn’t some abstract ideal reserved for saints and scholars; it’s the everyday practice of choosing to do what must be done, regardless of how you feel. It’s the steady, often unglamorous force that compels you to rise, write, work, work in, work out, work hard and push forward when that initial burst of inspiration has long since faded.

Look to the likes of Benjamin Franklin, who tracked his daily virtues with the precision of a master craftsman. Franklin’s routine was not driven by enthusiasm but by an unwavering commitment to self-improvement. His life reminds us that while motivation might open the door, discipline is what keeps it open.

Some Philosophy

Philosophers from Aristotle to modern thinkers have long debated the tension between our transient desires and our long-term goals. While motivation may be the initial impulse, discipline is the rational, almost stubborn decision that says, “No matter what, we continue.” It’s the difference between a promise made in the heat of the moment and a vow carved into the bedrock of our daily lives.

The Moment of Decision

Every habit, every meaningful change, begins with a conscious decision. It’s that moment when you decide that your goal whether it’s waking up at 3:30 am to blog or mastering a new skill, is non-negotiable. That decision, once made, must be honored day after day. When your alarm rings tomorrow, the test isn’t whether you feel motivated, but whether you honor that decision with discipline.

Become the person who honors your decisions. Because This is what we do Now.