# Medium Article > [!Article] # Why You’ll Never Be Motivated Enough to Change > ## Why do you do things you know you shouldn’t? > https://medium.com/p/1a2455ea8fa1 And why do you avoid things you know you should do? For example — you know you _should_ recycle all of your plastic waste (even your cardboard, tin cans, and paper), but do you actually separate your waste at home and take it to the recycling center? You know you _should_ eat less sugar, but have you ever gone a whole day without eating it? You know you _shouldn’t_ be on your phone right before bed, but how often do you find yourself checking emails right before you turn out the light? Clearly, it’s not enough to _know_ what to do and what not to do. I’m a nutrition coach at a local gym, and I find this to be true for the majority of my clients. Most people understand how to eat right. They also know they usually don’t eat that way. But that awareness isn’t enough to make a lasting change in their eating habits. If it was, they wouldn’t be coming to me for help. The short answer is that our habits often conflict with our [[Conceptual]] knowledge of the “ideal.” So how do we bring the two into alignment? >## You Need More than Facts “Unfortunately knowledge is not the single key to success,” [says Deborah Smith Pegues.](https://books.google.com/books?id=lg1wvfFmkwMC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=Unfortunately+knowledge+is+not+the+single+key+to+success.+We+must+commit+to+change.+deborah+smith+pegues&ots=OMj2U2tLQF&sig=ACfU3U2hvP0_L7C4NQd8T5h-VGQuDI3hXw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjK3eDC2PPkAhUDKqwKHaG3DbAQ6AEwAXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=Unfortunately%20knowledge%20is%20not%20the%20single%20key%20to%20success.%20We%20must%20commit%20to%20change.%20deborah%20smith%20pegues&f=false) “We must commit to change — beginning with a change in our thinking and the emotions we choose to attach to our thoughts about the inevitable negative situations we encounter.” Our biggest problem isn’t knowledge or information — it’s that we think willpower is all we need to create positive change. **We underestimate the power of habit, and we overestimate the power of motivation.** Perhaps you’re not a fan of change. Or perhaps you’ve attempted change before, but failed to sustain it. That’s not surprising — it’s a very common human condition. Even though change is a constant throughout the lifespan of every human, our bodies are also hardwired to _avoid_ change — to maintain homeostasis and preserve the status quo. The human body is an incredible, self-regulating machine, which is an excellent quality when it comes to promoting survival. But this same quality can work against you when you’re trying to change something for the better. >## A Little Help, Please? Even though your body’s main goal is to keep everything relatively the same all the time, it’s impressively good at helping you out in times of crisis. When faced with a threat, your [[sympathetic nervous system]] comes to life, disrupts the normal regulation process, and prepares your body to respond in ways it normally doesn’t. It does this without your conscious help. How cool is that? What’s even more neat is that in this state, doing something new, novel, or out-of-the-ordinary feels easy. You’ve heard of people exhibiting superhuman levels of strength during a moment of panic? That’s your nervous system. Your body is capable of a lot of crazy things when its regulation mechanisms aren’t turned on. It’s a lot easier to change when you’re forced to in a moment of crisis. For example, it may be easier to cut sugar out of your diet right after your doctor confirms you’re diabetic. This crisis elicits fear, which then enlists the help of your [[sympathetic nervous system]] to avoid the threat. It feels easier to make a big change when the alternative is scary. But what about making positive changes when the situation isn’t one of life or death? How can you trick your body into helping you change the status quo? >## The Shortcomings of Motivation Every January, millions of us decide we are going to eat better and start going to the gym. We make ambitious plans, saying we’ll go to the gym 5 times every week (even if we hadn’t been going at all in the previous months), or that we’re going to throw away all the processed food in the house and only eat vegetables. The initial spark of motivation and excitement — the novelty of trying something new — can help us succeed in the first few days. But, as many of us have found out, our motivation doesn’t last forever, and our body’s natural desire to return to normalcy becomes insatiable. This is why [only a third](https://www.forbes.com/sites/nazbeheshti/2018/12/11/new-years-resolutions-dont-last-try-this-instead/#ca53d1759da5) of New Year’s resolutions last past the first month. What does motivation even do for us, and why doesn’t it last? It arrives out of nowhere, donned with pomp and promises, then suddenly disappears and leaves us high and dry. The [Life Values Inventory](https://www.lifevaluesinventory.org/) program offers a profoundly accurate [descriptio](https://my.lifevaluesinventory.org/supplements/LifeValuesInventory.org%20-%20Optimal%20Self-Leadership.pdf)n of what motivation is: > ==“Motivation is a function of our thoughts, feelings, skills, and energy. When all four of those factors are moving in the same direction toward a goal, we don’t even have to think about being motivated; it just happens.”== > [!continue] > But when one of those factors is lacking (even momentarily), we find it hard to feel motivated. And without this easy drive to sustain change, our body quickly drags us back to the status quo. In this moment, our first reaction is to enlist the help of willpower to force ourselves into being motivated. But willpower is a [finite resource](https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-limited-resource.pdf) that fatigues from overuse; so it can’t be relied on to keep us committed to our goals when we don’t feel like it. This is why we fail to reach our goals so often, so quickly. **We fail because we think we will always feel motivated enough to counteract our body’s need for homeostasis — and we won’t.** **We fail because we think willpower is enough to overcome the magnetic force of the status quo.** **And we fail because we try to change too much at once.** >## There’s Still Hope One solution to creating and maintaining positive change — to do the things you know you should do — is to start with changes small enough that they don’t significantly disrupt your body’s status quo. If you are struggling to sustain a change, scale it down to where it doesn’t require a ton of effort on your part. For example, if you want to stop drinking soda, but you currently drink 6 cans every day, you’re a lot more likely to be successful if you cut that number down to 5 per day — rather than going cold turkey and eliminating soda completely. This type of action does not require much motivation or willpower to accomplish, and it probably won’t leave your body feeling freaked out or deprived. Keep doing this every day, until 5 sodas per day becomes your new normal. Then cut it down to 4. And so on. >## Get Your Brain on Your Side Returning to Deborah Smith Pegues’ statement at the beginning of this story — creating positive change requires a change in mindset. You will not always feel motivated. There will be days where your thoughts, feelings, skills, and energy do not match each other. Take this opportunity to figure out which one is not pulling its weight. Are you tired? Do you feel overwhelmed and incapable? Are you imagining things that aren’t true? Some days you will feel negative emotions. You will not always have the willpower to ignore them. But if you expect this from the start, it’s easier to figure out what degree of change is reasonable for you — how you’re going to maintain action on days you don’t feel motivated. The factor that determines success is not _how much_ you can change at once. It’s _how long_ you can sustain that change. So start small, let your body adjust, and continue to build. We can't just change by will power. [[Productivity]] needs to be aligned with..