I get asked about motivation more than just about anything else. What to do when it’s lacking? Where to find it? How to keep it?

My basic answer is always, “Don’t wait for motivation. If you do, you’ll never get out the door.” I spent 16 plus years running professionally. You think I was always motivated to run twice a day, six days a week and once on Sunday? And that was just the running part. What about strength and conditioning training three times a week? Nutrition discipline? Yada, yada, yada. You get the picture.

If I had waited for motivation, I’d still be standing by my front door in Newmarket, NH looking down my long dirt driveway, waiting for inspiration and wondering whether I should get out there and pull off a hard tempo run. Somewhere along the way, I figured out the difference between success and failure: I did whatever it was and whatever it took even when I didn’t feel like it.

So what’s a mojo-lacking runner to do?

Here’s the dirty little secret about motivation:  you create habits and then be consistent.Get up at 5:30 am. Not because you want to but because it’s what you do. As my longtime rival and friend PattiSue Plumer used to say, “Running should be just like brushing your teeth. You do it every day and you don’t even think about it.

”Call up a true blue running buddy who you know will show up and be ready to go. Someone who will ride you hard if you bail on showing up. Accountability is a good thing.

Find motivation from others. Here’s a killer example in this Navy Seal ad. Check out how this guy uses his time. Not a wasted moment in his day.

You say you don’t have motivation? You don’t have time? Figure it out and make your own motivation. Make your own time. Nobody else will do it for you.Navy SEAL Goggins on YouTube