Why Motivation May Let You Down, But Consistency Never Will

A nugget from the Tortoise and the Hare. *It's not what you think.

Let’s go back to your childhood to that beloved Aesop’s fable, The Tortoise and the Hare.

You know the one. It features an overconfident, braggadocios bunny and a humble, patient tortoise.

A Hare was making fun of the Tortoise one day for being so slow.

"Do you ever get anywhere?" he asked with a mocking laugh.

"Yes," replied the Tortoise, "and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and prove it."

As the story goes, the speedy hare mocks the tortoise for his slow and plodding pace. But the tortoise is confident and says they should run a race.

The hare accepts the challenge and is soon out of sight. To illustrate his point about being the faster of the two, he lies down to take a nap.

But the tortoise continues on at his steady pace and eventually overtakes the sleeping rabbit. By the time the hare wakes up, the tortoise is only steps away from the finish line.

Moral of the story: Slow and steady wins the race.

This is just one of many lessons in this short tale, but as athletes we often reject this idea. Why?

Because we see that, in reality, slow and steady does not in fact win races. Getting from point A to point B the fastest is what wins race.

But when we think this way, we’re entirely missing the point.

What the tortoise and the hare actually represent is the difference between motivation and consistency.

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What is motivation?

Simply put, motivation is why a person does something. It’s the driving force behind our actions.

Motivation is the reason you pick a certain major in college, decide to lose weight, start your own business, or sign up for a triathlon.

We all want to feel motivated. Motivation is like a shot of adrenaline or a cup of coffee. It makes us feel like we can kick butt, take names, and conquer the world, all before lunchtime.

But just like caffeine, motivation eventually wears off… and it doesn’t have a great half-life.

Now that doesn’t mean motivation is necessarily bad. Motivation is important because it provides us with a driving force- our why.

But you can’t rely on motivation alone. Why?

Motivation is fickle. It comes and goes. Motivation changes based on our mood and emotions. Relying solely on motivation is not a sustainable long-term strategy for achieving success.

But if motivation is the prom queen, then consistency is the nerdy girl in glasses who’s going to be a millionaire someday.

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What is consistency?

Consistency is the methodical, sustained, and disciplined effort that’s put it over time in order to achieve a set goal.

Consistency is about dedication, discipline, and determination. In order to be consistent, you need to engage in a repeatable action on a regular basis. It doesn’t necessarily have to be every day, as long as it’s executed on some type of schedule.

Practically, this might look like swimming on your lunch break every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or meal-prepping every Sunday afternoon.

Consistency isn’t flashy. It’s simply about putting in the work on a regular basis, until over time, it becomes a habit.

When you’re consistent in your actions, that’s when the real magic happens.

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

- Will Durant (not Aristotle)

I heard a funny story recently. When a kid wasn’t feeling motivated to do something, like schoolwork, he would tell his teacher, “I don’t want to do it!” To which, the teacher would reply, “Then, you will do so without wanting.”

Trust me, during Ironman training there are definitely times when Matt and I don’t really want to wake up early to do a hard bike ride before work, or do a crazy long run on a Saturday.

But consistency isn’t about desire. (That’s motivation.) Consistency is solely about execution.

While motivation is the spark that causes initial action (signing up for a race, committing to eating healthy, going to the gym, ect.) consistency is what will help you achieve your goal, especially on those days when your motivate wanes.

I saw a video recently where someone talked about how the actual Ironman isn’t accomplished during the race itself. It’s in the training- the day in and day out choices we make to get up and do the work, even when we’re tired and don’t feel like it.

Think about it this way. Motivation is short bursts of energy, like V02 max intervals or sprints, and consistency is your zone 2, long run. You need both to be a successful runner, and you need both to accomplish pretty much any goal in life.

Simply by being more consistent we can:

• be more productive

• have better focus

• build better habits

• achieve long term goals

• lessen the fear of failure

• prevent burnout

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Why motivation may let you down, but consistency never will

Let’s paint a picture. A triathlete signs up for a 70.3 or an Ironman. At the onset, motivation is high. After all, that’s why he pushed the (register now) button. All his friends are going. We’ll train together, they said. It will be a blast, they said…

Flash forward to 4 months down the road when he starts complaining about not feeling motivated to get in the pool to do his swim workouts. He doesn’t feel motivated to do the brick he’s supposed to, so he cuts it short.

In this case, motivation isn’t the problem. Consistency is.

He’s making the same mistake that so many athletes make. We confuse motivation (feeling and emotion) with consistency (repeated action)- putting forth the daily and weekly effort that keeps us on track in pursuit of our goal.

In this way, the tortoise knew what the hare did not.

While motivation gets you started, consistency is what keeps you going. It ensures steady progress, even during times of low motivation. You just need to keep showing up.

“Thus plain plodding people, we often shall find, Will leave hasty confident people behind.”- Jeffreys Taylor

So for today’s deeper dive into this topic, Triple Threat Life club members will learn:

• The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

• The 9 motivation sub-categories.

• How to determine which type of motivation will work best for you.

• 5 proven strategies to develop consistency.