[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome back to not another mindset show. Guys, this is a painful episode for me to have to record. And in fact, it is one of three very painful episodes that I am recording this afternoon because I have already recorded them. In fact, one of them I, I recorded twice. So this will be my third time.

Recording one of these three that I am recording this afternoon. We had, um, a mishap. We had a mishap. And the video files that I had uploaded to this software, because these are big video files, right? They’re like 4K videos, uh, video files that I am sending over to my video editor. Hi, Isaiah, as you’re listening to this, you also feel the same pain.

However, [00:01:00] Isaiah, you’re not the one who’s actually having to re record them. Um, I did not realize that the links that are created when I would, okay, so essentially I upload the video to this software, the software spits back a link that I then give to Isaiah, the video editor, and then he uses that link to download to his computer.

Like, that’s the best way for us to be transferring files. But that link, evidently, I have now learned, expires after 30 days. And Isaiah had not I went to grab those original files, so these are episodes that I recorded a month ago, and then that’s when we realized that once the link expires, not only can he not download it, but I have also lost the file, too.

And because it’s been a month, uh, And these are huge files. I deleted them off my computer, being like, okay, we’re done here, you know, it’s in Isaiah’s hands now, but. I am re recording three full episodes [00:02:00] today, in addition to recording three new ones, so that’s where we’re at. You know, I’m just thinking, it’s gotta be better this time, right?

Like, you guys are going to get The best episodes ever. These next three episodes, like, they’ve had practice. How many times can you say that I’ve, like, sat down and recorded a practice episode before I did the real thing, right? However, the big thing is that I recorded this for the first time a month ago, so I’m not really sure how much that practice is actually going to stick around.

But, um, anyway. We’ve got motivation, we’ve got discipline, so we are still showing up and we are talking about motivation and discipline again. Here we are. So, this conversation is a fun one, though. I will say, listen, everything that I talk about on this podcast is fun, okay? But I went to go back and was like, okay, what are the, what are the topics that I’m gonna have to talk about again?

And I’m like, okay, these are, these are fun ones, you know? But I mean, again, I think all of them are fun, otherwise I wouldn’t have done it in the first place. [00:03:00] But this is a big one because It is a conversation that is constantly being had on the internet and oh gosh, you know, the, those big masculine burly men out there talking about how you just need to be disciplined and stop looking for motivation and there’s so much of that out there and I get it, you cannot expect to be motivated all of the time.

I am not motivated all the time. I can tell you, I sure as hell am not motivated to re record these frickin podcast episodes. Um, but we’re doing it anyway, right? And I think to some degree, because everyone understands you can’t expect to be motivated all the time, it is like this flighty character that, It cannot be relied on.

That it feels a little bit like you’re let off the hook when we introduce discipline into the conversation instead. So, we all understand you can’t be motivated all the [00:04:00] time, but apparently you can be disciplined all the time? I guess that’s like the thought process, right? But it feels a little bit like, okay, phew.

Good to know, because I don’t feel motivated to go to the gym, I don’t feel motivated to meal prep, I don’t feel motivated all the time to sit down and do some of these business tasks that I don’t want to do. So it’s good to know that I don’t need that and I can just be disciplined instead. See how it can be like, oh, just be disciplined instead.

But here’s the problem. Let’s say you go this route, but then what happens when you skip a workout? You didn’t hit your macros. You failed to complete those business tasks. For the day now we know it’s not a motivation issue because we already went there. You know, we said it’s not I’m not motivated. I already know that.

So I’m just gonna be disciplined instead. But then you don’t actually you still don’t end up doing the things that you were supposed to be doing. So now it’s not a motivation issue. It’s a discipline issue. And who is in charge of how [00:05:00] disciplined you are and only you. So we went from, okay, can’t really rely on motivation.

It comes and goes, whatever. But I can be a disciplined person. But then when you fail to do the things underneath this guise of discipline, now it falls all on you, and it’s a you thing. It’s not a motivation thing, it’s a you thing, because you were not a disciplined enough person. It’s not that you didn’t have motivation, it’s that you couldn’t be disciplined.

So it’s a have versus a be conversation. And once we start talking personal characteristics, Are you a disciplined type of person? We get into some dicey territory and that dicey territory is fixed mindset territory. So it’s no longer whether or not you have motivation, it’s are you a disciplined person or not?

And [00:06:00] that is tough because who you are as a person can feel pretty fixed and unchangeable. It’s either like a you got it or you don’t got it type of situation, right? And of course this can vary. from person to person, you may be thinking like these concepts of motivation and discipline, maybe are more the same.

Or you may think, no, you can change your discipline just as much as you can change your motivation or vice versa. But I would really like you to think about this for yourself. How much can you change your motivation? How much can you change your discipline? And how much can people change in general?

Because there is a difference. And we’ve noticed this in the mindset research. It’s really interesting, just like finding in conversation in general that When you ask someone, like, can you change your level of motivation? Can, can people change their level of motivation in general? And people might say, yeah, like, I think so.

But then when you go [00:07:00] to that same person and say, can you, you as a person, like yourself, can you change your level of motivation? then their answer often changes. And we notice that in the mindset research, that when we’re asking questions about like changeable nature of certain traits, that people will respond differently when we’re asking about just, is this trait changeable in general versus like, do you actually think you can change this about yourself?

Really, really interesting, right? So when I ask these questions, I really want you to think about, can you change discipline and motivation in general? And also, is that something that you actually think that you are capable of changing or not? And notice how that might be a different response or maybe it’s not, you know, this is where it’s different.

So, um, something I want you to consider too, when we’re talking about motivation is that you actually are motivated all of the time. Like I’m no more of this nonsense that you’re sometimes not motivated. Like I, I understand in the context that, like, Oh, I’m not always motivated to go to the gym. No, but you’re still motivated [00:08:00] to do something.

It’s just, you’re not motivated to go to the gym. You’re motivated to watch that next episode on Netflix. You’re motivated to keep talking to your friend on the phone and catching up rather than, like, saying, Oh, I gotta go, gotta get to the gym. Um, you’re motivated to go get margaritas with your girlfriends.

You’re not necessarily super motivated to spend a couple hours on your Sunday meal prepping. There’s always motivation present. So I think that that is like, can be a really interesting reframe to consider that you are actually motivated all of the time. And it’s not a matter of being more motivated. Or less motivated, or gaining more motivation.

It’s actually just redirecting that motivation, taking that energy and trying to place it elsewhere. So it’s there, it’s there. You are, you are a very motivated individual. All the time. Even when it [00:09:00] comes down to, I mean, we could argue that you’re motivated to eat when you’re hungry, right? So like, motivation’s always there.

It’s just, is it um, Is it actually helping you pursue the things that you want in your life is the real question. And that brings me to a conversation too about just different types of motivation. And, um, Isaiah, I’ll have you put up the, the spectrum that I’m about to talk about on the screen for everyone who is watching on YouTube.

Um, so you can see it. All of my visual learners out there, if you’re listening and you’re driving or you’re working out or getting your cardio done, You’re out for a walk with your dog, I’m sorry if you’re listening to this on podcast and I can’t give you the visual, but you can, you can try to picture it, right?

So, motivation really falls on a spectrum, and we have a spectrum from A motivation, like literally put in, like the letter A in front of motivation, this is what it’s called in the research, okay, like I can’t help it, it’s a weird word, you could just say lack of motivation. But we say a motivation in, in research land.

Um, so this is just [00:10:00] like zero desire to obtain a goal whatsoever. So zero motivation. So that is on one side of the spectrum. Um, on the other side of the spectrum, we have intrinsic motivation, which is really, really important. Wanting to set goals and participate in behaviors based on personally fulfilling factors.

So if you are intrinsically motivated, like the most, the most pure form of intrinsic motivation is literally doing something just because you enjoy it, like you personally enjoy it. So that’s the spectrum that we’re looking at. And as we move from a motivation to intrinsic motivation on this spectrum, we gain more Self determination.

And we gain more autonomous types of motivation. So this is all stemming from something called self determination theory. And it’s this idea that the more autonomous you are in your [00:11:00] goal pursuits, The more autonomous motivation you’re operating from, the more likely you are to keep up with it, because it’s coming from this place, this internal place, you know, like, intrinsic motivation, and it’s self determined, it’s determined by you, not by external factors.

So, and the more we have that, the more self determination, the more autonomy, the more intrinsic motivation. The better. So this is like becomes a conversation of why are we trying so hard to just have more motivation when the reality is maybe we just need to work on honing that motivation into a certain type or uncovering a certain type and that certain type being more intrinsic or just more self determined type of motivation.

And so, on the spectrum too, and for those of you watching on YouTube, you can see that there’s, there’s multiple types of motivation that we’re talking about here. When we move from amotivation to the next step in the spectrum, that is extrinsic motivation. And this is working towards goals due to [00:12:00] external forces.

So if you’re doing something literally for the sake of, Someone else, something else, that is what extrinsic motivation is, like you’re doing it, you’re going to the gym because your husband’s going to the gym, and that’s it, it’s just like, just to make him happy, right? And then from extrinsic we have something next called, this is where it’s gonna get a little like, wordy, so hang in there with me, okay, and I’m more or less just trying to prove the point that there’s multiple types of motivation.

It’s called introjected. extrinsic motivation. And this is the idea that you’re setting a goal based on internal reasons that are placed there by someone else. So if you are trying to lose weight because you want to impress someone, so it’s like an internal force in a way. It’s like, oh, I’m doing this because I want to look good for someone else.

That is introjected extrinsic. So it’s a little bit more self determined. [00:13:00] Then, extrinsic, purely extrinsic motivation, but still not that great, right? Next we move into something called identified regulation. And this is working towards a goal and identifying goal related behaviors based on personal values.

So if you value your health and that’s what’s getting you to the gym, then that is identified regulation, and you’re identifying essentially these values that you have and you’re operating based on those values. So that sounds pretty good, right? Yeah, we’re getting closer to intrinsic, we’re getting more autonomous, more self determined.

And the next step, right before intrinsic motivation, is integrated. Regulation. And this is working towards a goal via behaviors that align with your identity. So you identify as a healthy person. You identify as an exerciser. You identify as a business owner. So you are doing things because of that identity and sort of like upholding that identity.

So you [00:14:00] can see once we start talking about values and identity, then we’re getting really close. We’re getting really close to this really personally fulfilling intrinsic motivation, which again is really like the best kind of, of motivation. But there’s a few other kinds that are really good too and are kind of like working our way towards that intrinsic motivation.

So really what we’re trying to do is just uncover motivation, have motivation that are in the sort of like ladder places on the spectrum of motivation. So identified regulation, integrated regulation, and intrinsic motivation, things that are related to identity values and enjoyment, like that’s really what we’re trying to look for.

So rather than having this conversation Really just be centered around having more or less motivation. I really don’t even know how helpful that is. I really think we should be talking about different types. This [00:15:00] is why we teach it the way we teach it inside the Health Mindset Coaching Certification for Coaches.

So coaches can learn these different types of motivation and see see where their clients might be falling on that spectrum and how to help them move closer to more intrinsic motivation because we know based on tons and tons and tons of research that the more intrinsic motivation you have to do something, the more likely you are to stick with it and actually see longterm results from it.

So what’s interesting too is I truly believe this is where like the discipline conversation comes back into the picture that Once you uncover and build more intrinsic motivation, you might be surprised just how disciplined you become, right? Like, really, is it really discipline or is it intrinsic motivation?

That I’m dis because people talk about, oh, I’m disciplined [00:16:00] because I go to the gym, Every day, or I go to the gym five times a week, whatever it is, and I’ve been doing this consistently for years because it’s just part of who I am, and I’m like disciplined, and I’m like, no, that doesn’t sound like discipline, actually, that sounds like identified regulation, it sounds like a It still sounds like a type of motivation, but you’re just motivated by different things, and those things that you’re motivated by are actually keeping you more consistent than what other people might be motivated by, and that’s keeping them not very consistent, right?

Um, so yeah, maybe the argument is that everyone has like some form of motivation unless you’re falling in that a motivation category. It’s just that some people have types of motivation that are going to So, there’s actually some research that’s for, that supports this as well, that more autonomous motivation.

So again, that like latter half of the spectrum that I was talking about [00:17:00] actually leads to more self discipline. So can we really untangle discipline from intrinsic motivation and from these, these Like, I identified and integrated types of motivation that are reliant on our values and our identity. Or is that really just what discipline is?

I’m really just asking you guys, I want you to think about this. This is where I sometimes wish I had someone to sit down and have a conversation with because I’m like, you may be answering this in your car when you’re out for a walk and I don’t know the answers that you’re giving me. Um, but just like something to continue to think about.

Um, And I do want to leave you with a reframe, if you will, that not being motivated isn’t necessarily bad, and not feeling like, oh, I’m not like super stoked to go to the gym today, doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with you, that like you’re you’re screwed that you’re not going to be able to achieve your health and fitness goals because you’re not staying motivated that [00:18:00] because we have this like perspective that like lack of motivation is bad and we need to make ourselves more motivated we need to fix this right but the reality is there’s going to be a flux and flow of that always always so rather than placing so much emphasis on motivation in general.

Maybe also ask yourself or think about this for your clients. Why do you even think that motivation is required to take action in the first place? Because my argument is that it’s really not. We’re like seeking motivation and we’re seeking to feel a certain type of way before we do something when the reality is you can just do that something and then watch how Doing that thing actually makes you feel better.

So rather than waiting to feel better to do the thing, if you just do the thing, doing the thing is going to be the thing that makes you feel better. And then from there you just have this beautiful snowball effect of, wow, I just [00:19:00] did that thing and it makes me feel better, so you’re going to be more likely to want to do it again.

And this is, there’s actually a term for this. It’s called behavioral activation. Um, and I think it, it mostly stems from, from areas of like anxiety and depression and how like people who have, um, clinical diagnosis of, a clinical diagnosis of, um, depression that they’re, they’re waiting to take action on things until they feel better.

Speaking as someone who has not been clinically depressed, like, I can’t imagine or I won’t pretend to act like I know what it is like to be clinically depressed, but in the work that this surrounds, this behavioral activation concept, it’s this idea of, like, if we can help people just, like, take some steps towards action that once they do that, they actually do start to feel better and it starts to help alleviate some of these symptoms of depression.

And then that just has, again, this beautiful like snowball domino effect to want to keep doing those things because you’re realizing, Oh, when I do those things, I feel better. I don’t actually have to wait [00:20:00] to feel better to do the things. So anyway, long story short. Keep in mind, you don’t actually need motivation.

You don’t actually need to be a more disciplined person. You can literally just do it anyway. And that could have just been the whole episode, honestly. But I also just really, really, really want to encourage you to think about motivation and discipline in a different way, and how actually this encouragement of just be more disciplined, don’t worry about motivation, like that can actually be kind of like a harmful dialogue in general because of this, the mindset aspect of it, where being a disciplined person becomes a, a matter of characteristics, and if you don’t have those traits and characteristics, then, then what?

Then what? Right? Um, so kind of like a slippery slope to a fixed mindset there, if you ask me. So, we will leave it at that, and I hope this, if [00:21:00] anything, just made you think a little bit differently about these concepts. As always, I would love to hear your feedback. Shoot me a message on Instagram so we can chit chat, and otherwise, I will see you in the next episode.

Thanks for listening.