Stop waiting to feel motivated
Much of what you do every day runs on habit, not motivation. In a 2002 diary study, Wendy Wood, Jeffrey Quinn, and Deborah Kashy found that about 43% of people's daily behaviors were done almost every day in the same setting, usually while they were thinking about something else. If you want something to happen consistently in your business, tie it to a time and place so it stops depending on how you feel.
"I'll do it when I feel more motivated."
I hear this one a lot. And I understand it. Some days you wake up ready to take on the world. Other days you want to hide under a blanket with your phone.
But if your marketing, your follow-ups, and your bookkeeping only happen on the good days, they're not going to happen very often.
What the research found
In 2002, Wendy Wood and her colleagues asked people to keep diaries. Every hour, participants wrote down what they were doing, what they were thinking, and where they were.
About 43% of the time, people were doing something they did almost every day, in the same place. And during those habits, their minds were usually somewhere else entirely. Think about brushing your teeth, making coffee, or checking your phone the second you sit in the car. You don't get motivated to do those things. They just happen.
That's the power of habit. It runs without needing you to feel like it.
Why motivation is a bad boss
Motivation is real, but it comes and goes. It depends on your sleep, your mood, what happened yesterday, and whether the kids woke up at 3 a.m.
If you build your business on motivation, you'll have great weeks and terrible weeks. And every time you hit a terrible week, you'll feel like you have to start over. That cycle is exactly what I wrote about in Why you keep starting over.
And it's not about willpower either. As I covered in Willpower isn't a battery, the best plan is one that doesn't need much willpower in the first place.
How to build a habit that doesn't need motivation
Pick the same time and place. "Every weekday at 8:45, at my desk, before I open email." Habits grow out of repetition in the same setting.
Attach it to something you already do. After you pour your coffee. After school drop-off. After lunch.
Make it small at first. One follow-up email, not ten. Two minutes of bookkeeping, not two hours. You can grow it once it sticks.
Remove friction. Leave the notebook open on the desk. Keep the template ready. Bookmark the page.
Expect it to take a while. Habits take weeks to months to feel automatic. Missing a day here and there won't ruin it. Just get back to it the next day.
What it looks like
One of my clients had been trying to post on social media consistently for over a year. It only happened when she "felt inspired," which was about twice a month.
We stopped talking about inspiration entirely. She picked Tuesday and Thursday mornings, right after her first coffee, at the kitchen table. Fifteen minutes. One post.
Three months later, she hasn't missed a week. She told me some days she still doesn't feel like it. She does it anyway, because it's just what Tuesday morning is now.
The bottom line
You don't need to feel motivated. You need a time, a place, and a small enough first step that you'll do it on your worst day.
If you want someone helping you build habits that stick, and checking in when they wobble, here's how I coach.
Frequently asked questions
How much of our behavior is habit?
In a 2002 diary study by Wood, Quinn, and Kashy, about 43% of people's daily behaviors were performed almost every day in the same context, often while thinking about something else.
How do I build a habit without motivation?
Do it at the same time and place each day, attach it to something you already do, start small, remove friction, and keep going even if you miss a day.
How long does it take to form a habit?
It varies by person and behavior. Research suggests it often takes weeks to a few months for a habit to feel automatic, and missing a single day doesn't undo your progress.
Sources: Wood, W., Quinn, J. M., & Kashy, D. A. (2002). Habits in everyday life: Thought, emotion, and action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(6), 1281–1297.
