I want to address one of the most important and misunderstood aspects of Martial Arts and goal related activities. I’m talking about motivation. How many times have you been truly inspired to take action on a particular cause only to lose the motivation that initially lit such a fire under you?

Here’s a little secret, Motivation is only temporary. It is your responsibility to find new motivation the moment you feel it slipping from your grasp. You can think of motivation like a drug. The initial effects are very powerful and you feel great(by the way, don’t do drugs, it’s just an analogy), however as time passes you lose that initial feeling, that high and end up feeling pretty much as you did before. You may even feel less motivated because you may get upset with yourself for losing your motivation. Did I just describe you? This is completely normal, but you have to do something about it.

There are a million ways to find new motivation but it will be immensely more difficult if your mind is focused on negative thoughts. Positive self talk will not work if you follow it up with “Man, I suck at Jiu-jitsu”. Therefore you must remind yourself, not what you can’t do or what you don’t have, but rather focus on all your positive qualities. The best time to do this is right before you go to bed at night and right when you wake up in the morning. Of course you should practice this throughout the day as well but these two will have the most impact.

Here’s what I recommend you do: First, make a list (a written one) of all your positive attributes and qualities as well as everything you have accomplished. Be detailed with this list and make it include both Personal and Occupation related successes. Do not get hung up on all your failures. We all have them and they are an essential part of our successes, so don’t knock ‘em.  Once you have compiled your list read it to yourself every morning and every night for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Then update your list.

Read, watch or listen to the things that make you feel motivated. Like I said, motivation is temporary, so just reading a great Tony Robbins book will only give you that “high” for so long. You have to keep the fire lit. Find the material that motivates you and use it as your fuel to take action. But be careful. For every hour you spend reading, watching or listening you should spend at least 5 hours “Doing”. Don’t become the guy who has read every book on life but never leaves his parents house. That’s sort of like the Grappler who has seen every move on YouTube but never actually trains. Put your Motivation to work.

Set short term and long term goals. A key component to staying motivated is knowing where you’re going and why. If you don’t have clearly defined goals then your motivation will soon hit a brick wall as you realize “I don’t know what I’m working so hard for”. When I was living with my Dad and teaching out of his garage making $540 a month it was not easy to feel motivated. What kept me moving was that I had a clear, defined goal. I wanted to grow my academy to a respectable size so that I could teach for a living while offering world class instruction and never compromising the integrity of the system that I teach. Now that I have reached that goal, I have newer, bigger goals that keep the motivation tank full.

Remember, loss of motivation is something everyone goes through. It’s not the loss of motivation that is our fault; it’s not replenishing it that is. Refill your motivation tank the moment the warning light comes and you feel yourself slowing down. And, equally important, define your goals in exact detail.  If you can do this you will have much greater success not only in Martial Arts but in everything else that you want in your life.