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It's not about motivation, it's about discipline. Motivation is fleeting, and if someone only exercises when motivated it's going to be hard to keep going. Disc

by matwood 1mo ago

It's not about motivation, it's about discipline. Motivation is fleeting, and if someone only exercises when motivated it's going to be hard to keep going. Discipline is what will get a person to exercise enough that it becomes part of their life. But to your point, discipline is not that common. I've done some sort of workout almost every day for the last 25+ years. It had nothing to do with motivation, but making exercise a part of my day like brushing my teeth.

nathan_compton 1mo ago
> It had nothing to do with motivation, but making exercise a part of my day like brushing my teeth. So it isn't about discipline either, it's about habits? I'm like you. Routine exercise for the last 25 years or so. I feel neither particularly disciplined nor particularly motivated. It is either just a habit I've formed or I happen to have the correct physiological temperament for exercise to be easy.
- Balooga 1mo ago
  Out of interest, how long did it take for you to form the habit for regular exercise? I took a solid 6 months of forcing myself to ignore my mind's constant excuses to not work out, to the point of my mind realizing that the excuses just weren't going to work and stop.
  - nathan_compton 28d ago
    I don't know. It happened in college when I got involved in an organized, highly athletic, sport. Never stopped. I guess six months wouldn't be a bad number to put on it. Exercise feels good to me. I think it felt good immediately when I started? I like the feeling of pushing myself and I kind of like discomfort/pain I can control.
    - Balooga 28d ago
      I don't like running, but I continue to run a 10km course a few times a week. Some years ago I felt the transition from someone who just runs for exercise to being a runner. And runners run. So I run.
- matwood 1mo ago
  You could say that. Discipline is how the habit is created and kept. The first thing I tell people is that exercise isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. Outside of all the health benefits, one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. EDIT I'll also add that most people who are disciplined don't really think about it that way. They just do what they need to do.
  - tbrownaw 1mo ago
    ... And motivation is what lets you stay disciplined when random life things try to get in the way.
  - Ntrails 29d ago
    > one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. I claim the same about hunger (within bounds of moderation etc etc). It's simply uncomfortable, but it's a discomfort that you can adapt to and live with. My general view is that both hunger and exercise work as ways to moderate weight but they rely on the exact same capacity for discomfort (and enduring that requires either necessity or motivation/discipline etc)
tootie 1mo ago
Two sides of the same coin. Why would I impose discipline on myself without proper motivation?
- matwood 1mo ago
  As I said, motivation is fleeting. It's what gets you to take the first step. Discipline keeps you walking until it becomes a habit. It's not much different from starting a business or making a piece of software. Motivation kicks things off because it's fun, but it goes away and now you have to have the discipline to keep going. When people talk about execution is everything, they aren't talking about day 1, they are talking about day 100, day 365, day 720.

by matwood 1mo ago

nathan_compton 1mo ago

> It had nothing to do with motivation, but making exercise a part of my day like brushing my teeth. So it isn't about discipline either, it's about habits? I'm like you. Routine exercise for the last 25 years or so. I feel neither particularly disciplined nor particularly motivated. It is either just a habit I've formed or I happen to have the correct physiological temperament for exercise to be easy.

Balooga 1mo ago
Out of interest, how long did it take for you to form the habit for regular exercise? I took a solid 6 months of forcing myself to ignore my mind's constant excuses to not work out, to the point of my mind realizing that the excuses just weren't going to work and stop.
- nathan_compton 28d ago
  I don't know. It happened in college when I got involved in an organized, highly athletic, sport. Never stopped. I guess six months wouldn't be a bad number to put on it. Exercise feels good to me. I think it felt good immediately when I started? I like the feeling of pushing myself and I kind of like discomfort/pain I can control.
  - Balooga 28d ago
    I don't like running, but I continue to run a 10km course a few times a week. Some years ago I felt the transition from someone who just runs for exercise to being a runner. And runners run. So I run.
matwood 1mo ago
You could say that. Discipline is how the habit is created and kept. The first thing I tell people is that exercise isn't easy. It's not supposed to be. Outside of all the health benefits, one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. EDIT I'll also add that most people who are disciplined don't really think about it that way. They just do what they need to do.
- tbrownaw 1mo ago
  ... And motivation is what lets you stay disciplined when random life things try to get in the way.
- Ntrails 29d ago
  > one of the biggest benefits of exercise is the mental growth of learning to accept being uncomfortable. I claim the same about hunger (within bounds of moderation etc etc). It's simply uncomfortable, but it's a discomfort that you can adapt to and live with. My general view is that both hunger and exercise work as ways to moderate weight but they rely on the exact same capacity for discomfort (and enduring that requires either necessity or motivation/discipline etc)

tootie 1mo ago

Two sides of the same coin. Why would I impose discipline on myself without proper motivation?

matwood 1mo ago
As I said, motivation is fleeting. It's what gets you to take the first step. Discipline keeps you walking until it becomes a habit. It's not much different from starting a business or making a piece of software. Motivation kicks things off because it's fun, but it goes away and now you have to have the discipline to keep going. When people talk about execution is everything, they aren't talking about day 1, they are talking about day 100, day 365, day 720.