When Monday Motivation Runs Out

Happy Monday, Tribe! How are you? Seriously, I am so fricking excited for this new week! I absolutely love Mondays!

Mondays have a lot of great energy, right? It’s a new week with new opportunities to grow and work hard and crush your goals. And that’s really exciting to me! I love the fresh start I get every Monday morning! 

But if I’m honest — as excited as I get about Mondays, sometimes I am just not feeling it. When that alarm clock goes off at 5 AM Monday morning, I don’t always want to jump out of bed and hit the gym. My bed is comfortable! It’s not always easy to want to get up and get rolling on Monday! And that’s not to mention Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday — and let’s not even talk about Friday!

Do you feel me? Even if you’re totally excited about having a new week with all its new opportunities, it’s easy to lose that momentum. But I want to tell you that even when I lose momentum, I keep going. I keep pushing. I keep being productive, and I strive toward my goals anyway. 

Because I know who I want to be, and I know what I have to do to get there.

So today, I want to talk about motivation. What happens when our motivation runs out? And how can we keep working and being productive as shit when we’re just not feeling it?

Can you keep crushing your goals even without motivation?

I’m excited to talk to you guys about this today, because I know it’s something we all deal with. My goal is to light a fire under you (and me!) to keep working and crushing it — even when motivation runs out. Let’s go!

When Motivation Runs Out

Let’s talk about that moment when the motivation just runs out.

Like I mentioned before, for me, it’s often when that alarm clock rings. When it’s 5 AM and still dark outside, you can bet I don’t always want to go work out! Those of you who go to the gym with me, you guys know — sometimes I’m not at the gym first thing Monday morning just because I am not feeling it. 

What are those moments for you? When do you find yourself out of motivation? It is when the alarm clock goes off? Is it after lunchtime, when you’re ready to clock out and head home for the day? Are you one of those superhumans who feels good until Thursday or Friday… but then you run out of steam because the weekend is so close you can taste it?

And what do you do when you reach one of those moments? I can tell you what you do because it’s the same thing we all do — you stop trying. You go all the way to the other end of the spectrum. You binge. You’re lazy. You don’t go to the gym. You don’t go for your walks. You don’t run. You don’t drink your water. You don’t do anything that you’re supposed to do.

Have you been there? I know I have. I know what it’s like to backtrack and undo some valuable progress I’d made toward my goals because I ran out of motivation. But I don’t think all the binging and laziness are even the worst parts of this.

I think the worst part is that we tend to sit around thinking, “Well, hopefully, I’ll reach my goals this week anyway.”

Why the hell are you leaving your entire life up to hope? Why would you want to leave anything up to hope when you can take control for yourself and be 100% sure you’re going to reach your goals?

Hope is cute. But I have no time for hope in my life. I’m going to freaking crush it. And the only way I’m going to do that is by setting myself up for success.

Are You Setting Yourself Up for Success?

Did you set yourself up for success this week? Did you plan out your work schedule? Does your calendar reflect an organized and prioritized schedule? If you’re ready to crush it this week — awesome! Keep going! If not — why not?

Athletes set themselves up for success every single day. They practice. They do their workouts. They figure out what they need to eat, how much water they need to drink, and how many hours they need to spend exercising and weight training and resting in order to succeed in their sport.

You do the same thing when you’ve got a big presentation at work, right? You prepare for that thing! You put time into it each day. You do all the work you need to do in the days and weeks leading up to your presentation so that you absolutely crush it.

Why don’t you do the same thing for each new week? Let me tell you, I’m actually writing this on Sunday evening to make sure it’s ready to go up on Monday morning, and I have my whole week laid out on my calendar. I know my content schedule, and I know exactly what work I need to do this week.

Now, I’ve been perfecting and fine-tuning my productivity for the last four years. Ever since I got my master’s degree, my focus has shifted. I’ve spent a lot of time in the last few years learning how to maximize my productivity and crush my goals. As I’ve built my business, I’ve learned a lot about productivity, and I’ve learned how to implement the tools and strategies that work for me.

But one thing is true for all of us: the only person to blame for not reaching your goals is yourself.

That’s true for you, and it’s true for me too. If you don’t reach your financial goals or relationship goals or weight loss goals of any other goals you may have, you have no one to blame but yourself.

So let me ask you again: did you set yourself up for success this week? If not, why not?

Is it because the “why” behind your goals isn’t strong enough?

When Motivation Runs Out, Discipline Kicks In

What’s the “why” behind your goals? Why do you want to accomplish them? Seriously, I want you to ask yourself these questions, and take some time to consider and even write down your thoughts.

Whatever your goals, whatever your reasons for them, I just want to give you permission right now to decide that you are worth it. You deserve to lose those 20 pounds. You deserve to be a successful businesswoman. You deserve a healthy marriage. You deserve to feel empowered to strive toward your goals every day.

Here’s the thing: if you believe that you are worth it, you are going to show up for yourself, even when the motivation is low. If you have a strong enough “why” behind your goals, you’ll find the strength to keep pushing and keep crushing it.

If you want to lose 20 pounds just because you think maybe you should, you’ve never going to get there. It goes back to what I said about hope before, right? If you have a vague hope that you’ll be 20 pounds lighter one day, you’re never going to get there.

But if you believe that you are a superwoman, you will show up for yourself. If you decide that you want to lose 20 pounds because you are a strong woman who is taking control of her life and her health, you’re going to get there. You’re going to lose the weight and grow your confidence and happiness too.

If you have a strong enough “why” behind your goals, when the motivation runs out, your discipline kicks in. Even when you don’t feel like going to the gym or working on your side hustle or having a difficult conversation, you’re going to have the discipline to do it anyway because your reason is strong enough.

Think about your goals for a minute. Why do you want to achieve them? Are they just vague wishes? Or are they solid goals you want to reach because you are a rockstar and deserve the best for yourself?

I promise, if you have enough faith in your own worthiness, you will have strong enough discipline to keep going. Even when that alarm rings at 5 AM, even when you hit that afternoon slump, even when it’s Friday and the weekend is so close you can almost taste it — you will be able to keep moving forward. Your discipline will kick in, and you’re absolutely going to crush it!

Will You Show Up for Yourself?

What choice are you going to make today? Are you going to show up for yourself? Are you going to give up and go home when you run out of Monday motivation? Or are you going to choose to believe in your worthiness and strive toward your goals anyway?

I believe in you beautiful souls. Every one of you is capable of living a life of happiness, confidence, freedom, and abundance every single day. You just have to believe that you deserve your dreams and then build the discipline you need to make them realities. 

I love you guys so much! If you loved this episode, would you leave me a review? You can connect with me on Instagram, @thejennkennedy. I always love reading your reviews and comments!

Okay, Tribe. Go out there and crush it. You deserve it. I’ll talk to you on Friday!