To lead a successful and fruitful life, you need to be constantly motivated and/or or disciplined. But let me tell you that discipline is far more superior in comparison to motivation for achieving your life goal. To understand this, first we need to find out the difference between the two.
| Motivation | Discipline |
| Emotional force/drive or desire to do something. | Ability to do what needs to be done—even when you don’t feel like doing it. |
| It is triggered by inspiration, mood, or external rewards. | Discipline is built by internal consistent efforts and following daily habits. |
| Depends on external circumstances, moods and/or feelings | Independent of external circumstances, moods and/or feelings |
| Difficult to sustain over long run | Sustainable and dependable over long run |
| Beneficial to start something new | Help you to continue that new thing started by motivation. |
So, Motivation is dependent on external factors and discipline depends on internal power and resilience. Motivation is a powerful initiator and excites you to do or learn new things but it is difficult to sustain it over the long term and it may fade when new challenges arise. Discipline is difficult to maintain at first but once sustained it will build resilience and long lasting success.
Let’s give you an example, many of us get motivated on the first day of every year or by seeing any fit person and wanting to go to the gym or do some physical activity. But after a few days of motivation, the excitement is lost and we stop doing it.
Second example: We can be motivated by someone to read books but after reading for a few days we stop it.
So, how to utilize both?
Let me tell you. You can use motivation as an ignition or a spark to start new things or activities and after that use discipline as a tool to change that spark into flame by consistency and by building habits.
