How to Motivate Yourself: Leverage Dopamine & Overcome Your Excuses

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Do you want to know the surprising truth about #motivation?

Right now, think about something you want to change or improve.

How do you make lasting and powerful changes and life improvements? And how do you keep going even when you don’t have the motivation to do it?

If change was easy, we’d all have six-pack abs and a million dollars in the bank.

And that’s where this episode comes in: Mel is here to teach you the HOW.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How to self-motivate so you can take action
- What dopamine is and how it’s linked to motivation
- The simple steps you can take today to tap back into your internal drive
- The 2 truths about motivation that you are forgetting
- The research-backed reason you continue, initiate, or quit something
- What to do when someone you love is losing motivation
- The real reason you cannot #motivate others
- How to cope with not getting something you have been working towards
- How to navigate feeling “behind” or in a “comparison game”
- How to pick yourself back up when you feel like life’s punched you in the face
- The first (and most important) step in understanding what drives your motivation
- One powerful question to ask yourself when you feel “stuck”
- What role #dreams and #goals play (and it’s not always to achieve them)
- How to hack the moment of hesitation we all feel
- The most powerful reframe you need about failing
- How to get clear about the direction you are going in without wandering aimlessly
- Mel’s 5-second rule that will move you towards action (even when you are not motivated)

This episode comes with a 29-page companion workbook. This workbook is designed using the latest research to help you get clear about what you want and empower you to take the next step forward in your life. And the cool part? It takes less than a minute for you to get your hands on it.

I’m just your friend. I am not a licensed therapist, and this podcast is NOT intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional. Got it? Good. I’ll see you in the next episode.

In this episode:
00:00 Intro
02:11: That painful moment of rejection that bursts your motivation.
07:22: What NOT to do when someone you love gets rejected.
08:34: What to do after life punches you in the face.
16:52: What is motivation, anyway?
18:24: The chemical that motivation relies on and why you need to know.
24:41: One of the most important hacks to help you stir up motivation again.
35:21: Three powerful words from advertising history that will change you.
40:02: A powerful mantra Mel wants you to repeat when you don’t feel like it.

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[lizabelle]

It’s often getting started that’s the hardest part. If you dare yourself to do just 5-10 mins of the thing you need to do, it often results in much longer or seeing the task through to completion. ✔️

[MandyJRoss]

You are whole.
You are worthy.
You are enough.
And you are so loved.❤

[gwencoleman]

Something I have experienced as a woman going through menopause and how that affects motivation when hormones/health are NOT in balance... it plays a HUGE part so if this might be you and all of these strategies still aren't working or you just are not DOING IT... give yourself grace and compassion and get your hormones and health checked out... that could very well play a role! Hugs!

[MegaBpop]

Our son had a similar experience. I heard this tip to tell h s seniors applying to their “dream” school. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Apply to a school you know they will accept you and also apply to your top 3-4 schools at the same time when you apply to your dream school.
Last advice came from a Univ professor told our son when he didn’t get accepted to the major at his dream school. “You have the grades & the discipline, GO WHERE YOU ARE LOVED”. Our son choose his no 2 school and they offered him 60% academic schokarship for all 4 years. He got so much work experience from that school for his employment after graduation.

[kittykatFL]

Day 11 in 2024 and I already needed to hear this!
I am so grateful for this channel ❤

[dalkongju]

It took so many years for me to admit that my problem is not giving my all to what i want to become or do. I knew i was not but i never sincere enough to admit it. Here i am at a point tired, burned out, feeling lost and failed on things I've not tried enough to achieve or succeed, giving continuous excuses to quit and procrastinate waiting for the motivation that would never come. The shift happens now. I'd not wait for anything to come or happen. Thank you Mel! ❤

[aloras]

I got my happy bum to the gym this morning. First real exercise in months.

[WackyWitchTV]

"How do you need me to support you today?" Thank you! This is the greatest question ever!

[danettem]

This is so true! "DO IT!" I heard Harrison Ford say, "Use the Force? NO! FORCE YOURSELF!!" And, I never forgot it. It's even better when you take inspired action. When you FEEL something come through, and it is SO powerful that you slip right into action with a firery passion that yanks you into it beyond your control. I hope everyone can find their passion. If not, well, they have Mel Robbins to give them an idea of how the human mind needs activation.

I love this podcast! Always grateful for Mel Robbins 🙏 Thank you! Your 2024 workbook is on point. It got me to see more clearly what it is I have been doing and why. When I am called to go back and reference what I wrote, I see there is always more to the story that is my life 🔥

[arohnr]

"And in case no one else tells you today, let me be the one to say I love you and I believe in your ability to create a better life"

I just want to thank you Mel, for being a beacon in my life. I've never had people in my life who told me these things. So the ending to your videos is like a verbal hug that I look forward to.

[MsLisa]

I live by goals.. I'm ADHD diagnosed. That's what keeps me going. I listen to you daily as my routine. I have to. You're my lil BIG voice in my head. ❤

[Thorbua]

You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.

[KindnessInChaos]

I’ve been struggling with motivation for a long time. Thank you for talking about it and humanizing this struggle. Especially if people struggle with depression and anxiety- avolition becomes a big obstacle!

[rsivpfy]

Step one: Remind yourself of why this matters?
Step two: Just Do it! ✔

[vangiesellshouses]

Yes my husband worked for 30 years at a company that just shut down…so hard to redirect yourself after that long and thinking it was a life job. Now we are using this time to reimagine our lives to where we want to go. Without this scary and horrible situation happening to us we might have never moved, never expanded ourselves….no decisions made yet this just happened Friday but mindset, mindset, mindset

[kasiamigdal]

My friend is looking after my 3girls today so I can listen to you uninterrupted 😂and get some stuff sorted in the house. I was offered a day off to collect my thoughts and have me-time. I felt like a kid in a sweet shop...but I realised it's the environment that I have an issue with so going away always feels great, but coming back sucks. If I change my environment permanently, I will no longer feel overwhelmed etc. So I'm flowing on the motivation that this is a rare chance to change things

[brittneypeters]

Yes!!!! I so often have to tell myself “just do it”. I jump out of bed when the alarm goes off daily and on those mornings I really don’t feel like exercising I’m always so glad I pushed myself into it afterwards!

[Ntegrity]

Hey there! Oakley for the win! 🏆 The Oakley story hit home, resonating so deeply. Your narration brought out the essence of his journey and how it pushed him to transform into the person he aspired to be. In my late 30s, I've been on a similar path, chasing evolving dreams. It takes time, right?

Personally, navigating those small emotional hiccups and defending the positive vibes is a daily task. Your episode taught me a valuable lesson—being the conductor and narrator of your story. Talking myself into it, realizing I deserve every bit of success, has been a game-changer. It's a journey that often reveals itself in moments of struggle.

Big thanks to Mel and Oakley! Your stories have added a meaningful chapter to my life. 😅😊😂🙏💫👊

[jackew.inindiana]

Listening to you over the llast couple days and I sooo want to nail down this morning routine thing. Mine is completely screwed. Wake up, grab a cup of coffee and tip toe downstairs to watch tv until it's time to wake up the yr old lab pup who's a complete asshole once he wakes up.🤣 I could write a book explaining how I ended up with this shitty routine of mine. Chronic pain, husband working nights for a long time, pup...it's a laundry list of conditioning. I'll try again tomorrow. Thank you for what you do it gives me hope.

[cwright]

Hugs to Oakley! (And to you and Chris navigating this with him 🤗) x