Lots to do and never enough time, I repeated for the hundredth time. Knee tapping against my desk and planner pages bursting with tasks, I felt so overwhelmed. School zapped me, but these were exciting projects; why am I so unmotivated? My knee slowed; I checked my watch—6 p.m. I just can’t. I don’t have the energy. Closing my planner, I fell into bed. 

This wasn’t unusual. For the past two years, I’ve been in a motivation drought. Stuck with “I want to do this, but I have no energy,” I doubted I’d get my motivation back. It’ll be better after finals. It’ll fix itself once I graduate. Maybe when I get into a better routine? My gap year started, and I finally had the time. So, where was the motivation? Questions flooded my mind. 

• What is motivation? 
• Is it something you’re either born with or doomed never to have? 
• Why can’t I stay motivated?
• How can I get more motivation? 

God, I’m trying to do good things–things you’ve put on my heart. Why can’t I just do them? 

I wanted to be “steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58), but instead, I was sporadic, exhausted, always abounding in uncompleted tasks. 

Is my lack of motivation to blame?

What is Motivation?

Motivation is why we do something.

It is the motive behind our actions. Motivation has two main definitions: motive and momentum. The deep reason behind our actions is motivation as the motive.

Motivation is a reflection of our values.

Teaching and inspiring others through writing brings me fulfillment and community–two of my values. I’m driven to write because those values are incentives. Jesus’ motive for enduring the cross was love for His Father and people. 

Motivation is the catalyst for action.

Motivation gives us momentum. It gets us excited about a new project or plan, acting as the spark of energy that ignites the process. 

This understanding of motivation explains why motivation is so tricky. Sometimes, I’ll be so excited to start something that I drop everything else. But just as soon as it comes, motivation often leaves. 

Motivation is emotion-based.

Therefore, it can’t be sustainable. Just because I value something doesn’t mean I actually do it. Chasing vague concepts like fulfillment and community is a lot of work when scrolling Instagram is much easier. Like a ball running out of momentum at the bottom of a hill, we can get stuck when facing roadblocks. When the energy is gone, we often forget our deep why. So, are we doomed? How did Jesus do it? 

He was fueled by something greater than motivation: Love. 

Love is the deepest, most sustainable motive. Love is prioritizing something over our wants. We often see love as an emotion. When our excitement for completing that project dissipates, we ask, “Why can’t I love this more than I love sleep, Instagram, or other distractions?”

But there’s more to it. 

Motivation is great, but it’s missing a few things.

What is Motivation Missing? 

We want the teary-eyed satisfaction the hero experiences after completing her mission. But a part of the movie is less fun to watch. In fact, it’s usually a montage: the training sequence. Doing the work, the problem-solving, the elbow grease—it’s not engaging to watch, but it’s what gets our hero from an exciting idea to a happy ending. 

One of my favorite childhood books was We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. In it, the family has an idea: let’s catch a bear. So off they go. Before long, they encounter a series of obstacles: long, wavy grass; a deep, cold river; thick, oozy mud; a big dark forest; a swirling, whirling snowstorm; and a narrow, gloomy cave. For each obstacle, the children chant: 

We can’t go over it.

We can’t go under it.

Oh no!

We’ve got to go through it!

They can’t jump over the obstacles to the happy ending; they must endure the muddy middle–the training sequence. Can motivation get us through? 

Motivation is a boost, but it’s not good for endurance.

We’re good at following motivation’s bursts by starting things, but when the spark dies, projects are left incomplete. When we have to face the thick, oozy mud, motivation isn’t enough. The bear-hunting family had more than motivation; they had discipline. 

We try to use motivation in discipline’s place, and it just doesn’t work. Instead, we’re frustrated, burnt out, self-critical, and confused. 

Motivation vs. Discipline 

Motivation is why we do something; discipline is actually doing something, even when we don’t want to. So when we have mundane tasks like homework or cleaning, or when we have dreaded steps to our exciting goals, discipline is what we need. 

In Romans 7:19, Paul shares his (very relatable) agony over being unable to get things done: “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” 

Me too, Paul. 

But he continues in verse 24: “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” 

Paul cried out to the only one who could rescue him: Jesus.

Christ is our hope for endurance. 

We wait to act, hoping motivation will strike and rescue us from our inability. But we don’t need to wait for some sporadic, emotional hero. We have an “ever-present help in times of trouble” (Psalm 46:1). 

The thing is, although Jesus is near, we often don’t feel a difference. Discipline is the same–it’s choosing to act when the “Wow, I’m excited” isn’t there. This is what fighting against the flesh looks like. 

So, how do we use discipline and motivation to stay motivated? Is motivation useless? 

Next Up

We’ll get to those questions in the next blog post, “The Recipe For Energizing Productivity,” releasing Friday, November 17th. 

While you wait, sign up for my email list to be notified, as well as get sneak peeks and exclusive bonus content! 

In Christ, 

-Alycia

PS: if you’ve been struggling to stay motivated through setbacks, I have a free resource just for you! It’ll teach you how to reframe your thoughts so you transform the Inner Critic’s discouragement into fuel for confidence and motivation. Just fill out the form below to get the free worksheet!