You know those people that work out every day, never cheat on their diet, read a book a week, build successful businesses, blah blah blah? Do you see them and think, “I could never do that”? I just don’t have that kind of motivation.

Well, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. They’re not that motivated either! Nobody is motivated every day. You can’t rely on motivation for success.

When starting something new (let’s say you’re just starting a carnivore diet or you’ve decided to start going to the gym 5 days/week) you likely will be motivated for the first few days or even weeks. But that will wear off. One day you’ll be tired or busy and want to skip the gym. Or you’ll crave a donut and fall off your diet. After that failure, you might be able to muster enough motivation to start again but trust me, it won’t last.

Many people will say that the remedy for this problem is to turn the tasks that you want to complete into habits. I agree that this is a better plan than relying on motivation, but it still doesn’t quite hit the mark.

Here’s why. Have you ever experienced a situation where you recently moved homes, but you actually start driving to your old place out of habit? Once you realize your mistake, you face-palm yourself and drive to your new home. The thing about habits is that they are very useful when they’re automatic and you’re not thinking about them. Your body just takes over. But when you have to make a conscious decision about something, you can’t always rely on habit.

Let’s revisit the diet idea. If you’re on a carnivore diet and you go to a restaurant, you’re going to have to read over the menu and choose something to eat that fits your diet. You can’t rely on habit to make the right choice. You also can’t always rely on motivation because some days you’re just going to want pasta and wine.

The idea of building a habit of exercise works a little better. You can get in the habit of waking up at 5:00 am and leaving your running shoes right beside the bed, but on the mornings when you’re really tired or your alarm didn’t off or you have an early meeting at the office, your habit isn’t going to work for you anymore. On those days, you have to make a decision about how to pivot, and if you’re not feeling particularly motivated that day then your workout is likely not going to get done.

Those are some reasons why neither motivation nor habits are enough to keep you moving toward your goals. Especially the big ones that last a lifetime.

Let me run a couple more life situations by you though. I’m willing to bet that you almost never go a day without performing basic hygiene tasks, feeding your dog, picking up your children from school, etc. These tasks are not exactly fun or convenient every day, but you do them anyway. Whether or not you’re motivated to do them isn’t even a conversation because you have no choice.

And that, my friends, is the SECRET!!!! When you decide on the minimum basic tasks that you will complete daily to move your life forward in the direction you want it to go, you do not give yourself a choice to opt-out.

For me, one of my minimum basic rules for myself is to follow a carnivore diet. Not only when it’s convenient or when it sounds good, but ALWAYS. There are no exceptions. Anything else is not food for me. I think of it like eating dog food or a candle. It may look pretty and smell good, and it may even be edible, but it is not food for me. I use to experience so much distress when on a date, at a party, or traveling because I was trying to rely on motivation to stick to whatever diet I was on. Now, I don’t even think about it. If there is no food available that fits my parameters then I don’t eat. Or I figure out a way to get something I can eat. I understand that this may sound restrictive, but it’s one of the most freeing things I’ve ever experienced.

When it comes to exercise, I learned a lot from completing 75 Hard and then the whole Live Hard program. During that program, you have to work out twice a day, every day for 45 minutes each time. At first, it’s hard because you feel like you don’t have time. But after a few weeks, you learn how to prioritize your time and get it done because you have no other choice. Now that I’m done with the program, I don’t always work out twice a day, but my minimum basic requirement for myself is to work out at least 30 minutes per day every single day. Most days I go to the gym, whether I feel like it or not. Whether I got enough sleep or not. If that doesn’t work out for some reason then I figure out a plan B. Maybe it’s to go for a walk or to do yoga in my apartment. When I’m traveling, sometimes my exercise is simply walking laps around the airport. I’ve even resorted to doing a resistance band workout in the car before.

Please hear me, I’m not trying to make it sound like I’m great and wonderful and have it all figured out. I used to struggle with motivation so much. I would set a new goal (often related to diet or exercise), fall off track, and cry and cry about what a failure I was. I couldn’t understand why I could never stay motivated when other people seemed to. I read books about motivation and habit, and they helped temporarily, but nothing ever lasted forever. Until I discovered the power of choosing the things that are most important to you and taking away the option of not doing them.

Again, I know it sounds restrictive, but it’s one of the most freeing things you’ll ever do.