When you are motivated you feel like there is no obstacle too daunting for you to overcome. For a motivated individual, each morning means another opportunity to fulfill your goals. Motivation makes it a lot easier to jump out of bed every morning!
A motivated person doesn’t view their daily routine as another boring and monotonous set of tasks to do. Instead, they see day to day activities as contributions towards accomplishing a goal. If you are motivated, you become more capable of creating good habits and it becomes easier for you to relinquish those that will hinder you from achieving your goals.
It is no coincidence that a great many of the world’s most successful people share common habits. That they formed these habits in the first place was of course due largely to feeling motivated to begin and maintain them.
It is also just as true that once these actions became successful habits, they continued with them even when their motivation waned. One of the secrets of successful people is recognizing that levels of motivation and enthusiasm will fluctuate. It is imperative to use the ‘motivated phase’ to set up habits that will continue after this occurs.
So while feeling motivated can help get things moving, it is critical to success to create habits and schedules that keep things moving in the right direction. If you only take action toward your goals when you feel motivated or ‘inspired’, success will be fleeting.
Here are some examples of the behaviors that could be started while feeling motivated, that can be life-changing if they become habits.
Early Riser
One very common habit among highly motivated people is being an early riser. While the world is still asleep, they’re already up getting things done before the sun is up. They wake up early to exercise, check their priorities for the day and prepare things so they could be in the workplace ahead of everybody.
Success is self-reinforcing, the more motivated a person is the more successful a person is, and the more successful they are, the more motivated they become. It becomes very easy to look forward to the new morning with eager anticipation instead of dread.
Results Driven
Motivated people don’t think of excuses, they only think of results. They are determined to see results by the end of the day. They do the things that need to be done, and don’t let useless interruptions get in the way.
Health Conscious
Motivated individuals tend to be more conscious of their physical and mental health. They know they cannot afford to risk their health lest their goals are hampered. Supporting their health, including their emotional health, with good diet, exercise and social behaviors, means their mind and body can better support them in their endeavors.
People Oriented
Highly motivated individuals put relationships with people at the center of their life. They know that maintaining good relationships with people in the workplace is an indispensable part of being successful. Even those who work best alone, or may be very introverted, recognize the necessity of maintaining positive relationships with family, friends, co-workers and customers.
Developing habits may have sticking points for some people. Some may find it difficult to begin them (procrastination), others may find it difficult to stick to them (lack of persistence). Considering these three important questions when trying to create good habits may help:
What is your purpose for creating this good habit?
This may seem like the kind of question that does not have to be answered or asked in the first place, after all, it’s a good habit that you are creating. However, being able to clearly identify your reason for creating a good habit will help you stay on track by defining and reinforcing its potential benefits.
If your aim is to lose weight then you should be clear about why you want to lose weight. Do you want to lose weight because you like to see yourself wearing bikinis at the beach this summer? Or, do you want to lose weight because you want to be healthier for the sake of your children and that you want to live a longer and happier life with your family?
When you have your purpose deeply ingrained into your mind then good habits become easier to stick to, even after the initial momentum fades.
When do you want to start implementing your new habit?
For example, if you want to lose weight as your goal then eating healthy foods will be one of the habits that you want to form. In most cases people will immediately say “I want to lose 10 pounds in just one week”. However, the week of implementation is often always “next week”, with no commitment to when they will start sticking to healthy eating habits.
It is easy to say I will start eating healthy breakfast tomorrow. Unfortunately, when “tomorrow” comes it is just as easy to be still eating the same processed food for breakfast. How many self-sabotage themselves by saying “I have to indulge now because tomorrow I will start sticking to my healthy eating habits”. Once you decide to start implementing your good habits, make sure not to postpone its implementation. Otherwise, you will not only be delaying the realization of your goal.
Worse, postponing will lead to the formation and strengthening of a very negative habit which is procrastination. It is very easy make excuses about “now is not the right time”, but there is great power in “now”.
Where do you want to start forming good habits?
Many people are determined to form new habits and kick their old bad habits. However, when implementation day comes, they may fail to always carry out their good intentions. One reason for this is can be that when they are in a different location or in a different setting their intended behaviors are forgotten, or excused.
Plan ahead. Where possible avoid temptation so you don’t have to rely on willpower. Where tempting triggers are unavoidable, plan strategies to deal with them that don’t involve leaving your good intentions at the wayside.
This applies to the formation of any habit, whether getting up early or changing eating habits, there will always be opportunities to fall back to old ways. Every time you don’t is a win, and strengthens your good habit.
If you want to stick to your habit of eating only nutritious foods then you should also clearly identify the place where you would like to implement your good eating habits. Do you want to implement it only at home? Do you still want to stick to your good eating habits in the workplace? Do you plan to still opt for healthy foods even when you are at a restaurant with your friends?
These locations, i.e. home, workplace and outdoors must be taken into consideration when forming new good habits. This way, you will also be able to come up with strategies or “plan B” so you can eliminate your tendency to ruin the good habits that you are trying to stick to.
Final Thoughts
Motivation is a powerful spark—it gets you started, lifts your energy, and makes big goals feel within reach. But motivation alone is fleeting. That’s why transforming that initial burst of energy into consistent, daily habits is the real key to lasting change. By asking the right questions—why you want the habit, when you’ll start, and where you’ll maintain it—you begin to build a framework that supports your goals long after your motivation dips. The most successful people don’t rely on willpower alone; they create systems, routines, and environments that support their best intentions. So use motivation as your launchpad, but let strong habits be the engine that keeps you going.