like motivational videos, articles, self pep-talks, and other short-term boosts.

And think about this: with a “get motivated” strategy, not only do you have to be
motivated to do something, but you have to be most motivated to do it. So, to get
motivated to exercise, you would have to want to exercise more than you want to
eat chips and watch TV. You'll only succeed sometimes.

The activities that are good for us (eating raw broccoli, running 8 miles, and then
eating more broccoli) are not the kinds of things that are easy to get motivated to
do. The short-term rewards of raw broccoli and exercise have a really hard time
competing with ice cream on the couch while watching a movie. My motivation
to do the latter stays high.

You Won't Always Want To Get Motivated

The motivation theory of growth goes like this: if I want to do something, I don't
need to force myself to do it (use willpower)! That's true. When you're
motivated, it's easy to do things, and it doesn't require much, if any willpower.
Remember the chart at the beginning of this chapter? When you’re fully
motivated, willpower cost is zero. This seems like the best way at first, and even
more so when you consider that willpower is a limited resource (covered later).
This makes motivation highly desirable in theory, but as they say, “every rose
has its thorns, which cut your finger and make you curse in front of your
nephew.”

Problem: motivation is not easy (and sometimes nearly impossible) to cultivate

on demand. Look no further than your own experiences to verify this. How easy
has it been to motivate yourself when you're tired, sick, have a headache, feel
“off,” or just really want to do something else more fun? This idea of changing
what you desire just by focusing on benefits really discredits the power and
influence of how we feel. It's hard to change your feelings by thinking. It's when
we have a lot of energy, a healthy mindset, and no major temptations that we
succeed with motivation. But when the time comes to act and the scenario
appears far less favorable, we'll decide to “do it tomorrow.”

When I was tired and had a headache recently, there was no motivational phrase
or thought that was going to make me work on this book. I didn't want to get