Building consistency when motivation drops is one of the most important variables in determining long-term success for any athlete.

I think, more than anything else, this is about a paradigm shift.

Not finding some magical way to motivate yourself when you don’t feel motivated.

Anyone regurgitating the idea that your “levels of motivation” are the reason why you’re not elevating, pushing past your competition, and doing what’s required to be successful on a daily basis, must not deeply understand what real consistency CONSISTS OF.

I tell young players all the time, every time you do something extra, engage with a habit, or routine when you feel like it doesn’t matter.

Every time you read 10 pages, stretch for 10 minutes, finish your 5 minute meditation, write down 3 things you’re grateful for, journal, workout, do extra runs, or extra shots, when you feel like it, doesn’t make a difference against anyone else.

I know this to be true because I’ve observed, as I’m sure you have in your life as well if you really think about it, that everyone can do the work that’s required of them when they feel like it.

Literally not a single person I know doesn’t not show up for themselves when they’re in the mood to. Of course they do. That’s what everyone does.

And if that’s what everyone does, then your results will mirror everyone else’s as well.

It’s literally, only the times when you don’t feel like it, when you’re tired, sore, sick, not feeling up for it… when it’s cold, rainy, snowy, early, late, or you’re exhausted… Those are the only times that count. Because those are the times when everyone else says, “ah I’m not feeling up for it today, I’ll just do it tomorrow.”

The moment you let that resistance win, when you let that weak part of yourself convince you that this one time won’t make a difference, is the moment when you succumb to the standards of the ordinary. You lose. Because those are the only times that truly differentiate the elite from everyone else.

It’s in their ability to put their best foot forward when they’re hurting, when the weather forecast was miserable, when they took that opportunity to say to themselves:

“Everyone else is going to be skipping today because it’s snowing (or cold, or rainy, or whatever the excuse may be). This is my moment to get ahead. To be different. To gain ground on the competition. Today I’m going to be different.”

And by choosing to be different, and do different, to engage in actions that only 1% of people will take in order to bring about the results they’re aiming towards, you’ll experience results that are different. That decision, to act when you don’t feel like it, when motivation fades (as it always does), is where you’ll reap the rewards.

Truthfully, doing the extra reps and work makes no difference on your success when you’re in the mood. Because, again, everyone can do it when they’re feeling motivated. When they watch a Kobe Bryant motivational video and they feel inspired to hit the gym, choose the salad, or read the book.

But what happens on day 2, day 3, day 4… day 100, day 200, day 300, of the alarm going off at 5 in the morning when everyone else is sleeping in, cozy under the covers, and you have to get up and get after it with no guarantees that any of these sacrifices will bring the rewards you desire?

The first party out is easy to say no to. What about the 20th, 30th, or 50th when you haven’t seen the results you want yet? You think you’re still going to be feeling motivated to engage with the actions taken by the 1% of people who ultimately collide their dreams with their reality?

Of course you won’t.

You’ll have doubts, you’ll feel like this isn’t working, like you might be sacrificing all this time for no reason. Your motivation will fade… It’s a part of it.

But, in all actuality, it’s not about the results and outcomes.

Sure we aim at our desired results and outcomes so that we can reverse engineer the steps we need to take on a daily basis in order to increase the probability we get to experience those outcomes in the future, that’s a part of being alive and being a human. You need an aim so that you can move through the world and your life productively.

However…

It’s much more so about who you become through this daily process of continuously, CONSISTENTLY, showing up for yourself when you don’t feel like it.

Because over time, you’ll be putting pennies into the jar of proving to yourself that you can push through for yourself, show up for yourself, and keep the promises you made to yourself, even when you don’t feel like it. You will be there for yourself, fulfilling and staying true to your word, and as a byproduct earn your own self-respect. How could you not find confidence in yourself after that level of commitment?

Players who need structure can learn more inside Path 2 Pro.