How To Create Lasting Momentum When Motivation Fades

What if motivation stopped being a mystery and became a tool you could use on command? We dive straight into the gap between waiting to feel ready and choosing a story that makes action inevitable, then show how that simple shift turns erratic starts into steady, compounding momentum.

We start with a candid look at 75 Hard—not as a badge of grind, but as a living case study in outcome-focused commitment. The workouts and rules aren’t the draw; the real win is the clarity, ownership, and calm that come from controlling what you can. From there, we unpack how most people outsource their mindset to external events and how to reclaim that control by selecting a perspective that fuels useful behavior. You’ll hear a practical, five-minute exercise to surface a time you didn’t quit, extract the script that moved you forward, and rewrite it into a reliable mantra you can use in business, health, and relationships.

We also explore leadership under pressure. When conditions or bosses disappoint, resentment drains momentum for everyone. The alternative is adopting the identity of a filter—letting negativity stop with you while you pass steadiness and direction to your team. That reframe changes your emotional state because stories shape feelings, and feelings drive action. Finally, we map the crucial next step: protecting momentum with minimum viable wins and planned recovery so you can rest without quitting, avoid the all-or-nothing trap, and keep progress rolling even on hard days.

If you’re ready to build motivation instead of waiting for it, press play, try the exercise, and share your new mantra with us. For more like this, subscribe, leave a quick review, and send the episode to someone who needs a nudge today.

Want to lead high-stakes conversations with real skill?

High Impact Mastery Academy (HIMA) by Modern Leadership Coaching helps you:

• Build a repeatable method for the conversations that matter 
• Develop confidence through live reps and direct feedback 
• Create measurable change with the people who depend on you

Apply to HIMA (no calls, 24-hour review):

https://www.modernleadership.us/academy

Transcript

The Motivation Problem

SPEAKER_00 0:00

So, how do you build momentum when you don't have motivation? That was the question that I literally got this morning from one of my clients. And we kind of had a secret sauce behind that here. If all you do is wait to feel motivated, momentum is going to come and go. But the truth is, it doesn't have to when you do what we're going to talk about here today. So let's actually give them some behind the scenes in terms of what we do, not only for ourselves, but for our clients to help us, not only when it comes to motivation, but most importantly, like how to create and continue that momentum. Because that's a big deal, right? If you're up and down, your business is up and down, your relationships are up and down, and your health is up and down. All things that I've had happen before I started to take control of it by doing what we're going to talk about today. So you ready to do that? Yep. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

So I know you'll do the 75 Hard, right? Over and over again. I think you've done it maybe five times. 75 Hard is basically a physically and mentally demanding program. So you're even talking about doing that again with our team. So when I see you, it seems like you're really motivated to do it. So I know that's not always the case, but what's your secret behind you doing that?

SPEAKER_00 1:01

So I know I just put out an email today talking about the 75 Hard and doing it, I think, for the sixth time. One time I actually did the 75 Live Hard, which is an entire year. And people think I'm a little crazy. And the truth is, is like when I put that together, I am excited about it. Teresa, not so much, but I am excited about it. Um, and it's not because I'm motivated to do two workouts a day for 45 minutes, drink a gallon of water, take a picture, you know, do exactly what I need to do with my nutrition plan. Like, that's not my motivation behind it, right? However, I do know that there's things that I am motivated about when it comes to that program. Because I mean, yesterday we were at the coffee shop, and that's when this came up, right? I'm like, you know what? 75 Hard, whenever I do it, I feel so highly motivated in control. I'm taking ownership of the things that I can control. And it feels like anything that is quote unquote small or big kind of like just rushes off my back. And it just feels like it's not a big deal. And I always figure so many things out when I do that. And so for me, in that situation, and we're gonna share with you how we can do this, is I just remind myself of the parts that I am motivated about, the outcome that I'm gonna be able to achieve. And then when I start getting other people behind me, I send an email and I get like 13 responses. I'm in, I'm in, I'm in, I'm in. It's kind of like fuels it because I didn't just sit on it and just say, oh, you know, maybe I would do this. I actually took action from a place of not being motivated about doing all those workouts and stuff, but like from a place of like reminding myself of what's gonna happen when I do. And then wanting other people to do that. And then by putting it out there, it created this cycle of not only me taking action on it, but so many other people getting motivated about it too.

Redefining Motivation And Mindset

SPEAKER_01 2:33

So, okay, so you're saying that you just get yourself to do that. But like people think that being motivated is basically they have to wait for that feeling to come. They have to wait for that moment so that they can actually take the action. So, what is it that gets you to actually say, hey, I'm gonna do this?

Taking Back Inside Control

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Okay, so this might not be so briefly, but I want to kind of describe to people a little bit about like what people term as like motivation or mindset and what it actually is. And sometimes what we find is a lot of what people actually think it is, right? So when you think about like mindset or motivation, a lot of people think of like how you feel in the moment. And how you feel in the moment is fueled by a lot of times what's happening in the outside world. So if somebody gives you positive reinforcement, you have a new client who signs up, you lose five pounds, because that situation happened, you now think about yourself in a certain way. You tell yourself a different story, it creates that energy or that motivation emotion inside of your body. And from that feeling of motivation, then you start taking actions as a motivated individual. But that is a fleeting moment. It's a moment by moment. You can have a moment where this morning maybe somebody sends up to a client and you're super excited, right? You're like, my mindset's right, right? And then, you know, three hours later, your son, you know, has a a sore throat on finals day and he can't make it there. And now all of a sudden, like your world kind of comes to an end, right? You're like, oh my God, like what am I gonna do? And it's just like it feels like your quote unquote mindset is off. And what actually is happening is you're giving your inside control to something on the outside. And so when we think about like the 75 heart or any of the things that we do, but also the things we tell our clients, is it has a lot to do with controlling what you can control, which is the way that you think, the way that you talk, and the way that you act, right? But it all comes down to the way that you think. And so when you're going through this process, like a lot of people give that outside control and then they're waiting for motivation. But at any point that you want to, you can go back and you can find the motivation. The reason why you said yes in the beginning, the reason why you can do this, like all that different potential, you can go find it if you choose to, if you realize that you have the power to do that, but most people don't. This is why we spend so much time in our life and performance certification to really pull this out. Because there's the life part of this, which is like being able to think about it on a different level. And then there's the performance part where when you ask a question, you can get yourself and somebody else to perform on an entirely different level. And so let's actually do that now. Let's take them through like a little bit of a mini exercise. Cause maybe some people are thinking, well, I could never do the 75 hard, or I've never done anything hard, or I'm not the person type of person who can control my motivation, but they actually can because they've done it before. It's just that they're not giving themselves any credit for it. So let's take them through that real quick.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Yeah, so think about it. Think about that you've already done this. You're like you already do this, and you probably do it on a consistent basis, but you just don't give yourself enough credit for it. So think about a time where you wanted to quit, but you didn't. Think about that. A time that you wanted to quit, but you kept going. You did it anyway. What actually kept you moving that day? And most importantly, what did you actually learn about yourself on the other side of that decision?

Mini Exercise To Find Your Story

Using Values To Sustain Action

SPEAKER_00 5:36

So when we go from think about a time when you felt like quitting when you didn't want to follow through, but you ended up following through anyway. I want you to like really think about that because there was a story that you told yourself that got you to take action anyway. Now, sometimes what we find is like some people use shame or guilt or like I suck, or like I just have to do this, I have to go to work today, right? All of those things are disempowering, right? You're not going to feel motivated when you do that. So that might be one of the things that maybe you can figure out a different story that you can tell yourself to get yourself actually excited about doing that thing, right? But most likely when you go back to that time, you can think about what did I tell myself? You know what? Here's here's a few examples, right? Like let's say you're in a situation where maybe you're at work and maybe your leadership isn't leading as well as you want, right? Maybe they're like not giving people the raises that they should give them and all of these other things, right? You could accidentally go down the path of like, well, screw them. They suck. They're terrible. This place is just a terrible place to work at. And what you do is you actually will have lower motivation and lower momentum, not only for you, but your entire team. But you could also think, and this is what I used to think at LAPD on occasion when I have a boss like this, is I used to remind myself, you know what? This is the opportunity that I have to lead and not allow this negativity to go anywhere beyond me. Because here's the thing I can be the filter between the people that are leading me and the people that I lead so that they don't ever have to deal with this. And when you step into that, it creates a different level of emotion because guess what? You're telling yourself a different story. So the truth here is like you got to find the story that fuels you, right? As a coach, this is what we do. We ask questions to help not only identify what story is not helping you, what perspective is not helping you, but also find the one that actually fuels you. And when you fuel yourself that way, it's not a one size fit all, right? We tell them we want them to try the perspective on for size, right? Like, is this jacket? Do you is it help you? Cool, glean into it. If it doesn't, like leave it by the wayside. But when you look back to the times when you have done this, you might find that there might be a powerful story in there that could help you not only in this area, but every other area that you're quote unquote struggling with motivation because that has a lot to do with like our values. And when we can get really near and dear into a perspective that's like, that feels like I can believe it. It's something that I know that I'm here and put on this planet to do, something you can use in multiple different areas. So that's why we're asking you those questions. And then the last one is like reflect on that. What does it tell you? What is that story that you actually reminded yourself of? Like, how else could you use that? What other areas could you tap into that? And that is how you can create the motivation that you need so that you can continue to take that action, which is what creates momentum. So here's really what I want you to get today. You don't wait for motivation, you build it one perspective at a time. This is one of the first things that we talk about inside of our certification, because when your brain starts to get rewired and start using these perspectives for you, not only will you excel in that area you're working on, but it's actually something that's contagious in all the other areas too. Now, once you start leaning into this, you now start to have momentum on your side. But the next step is critical. And that's when certain situations come up, you also have to learn how to rest without quote unquote quitting. Now, there's a huge dichotomy here between completely abandoning what you're doing and actually pushing through when you have to give it a rest. And we want to make sure that you don't approach this raw, which is why we're dedicating the next lesson entirely to this. We'll see you in that next episode.