Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] If you're listening to this and you've been trying to get your life together, starting strong, falling off, restarting, losing momentum, and you're quietly asking yourself, why can't I stay consistent? I want you to hear this clearly. You don't lack motivation. You lack a system that survives hard seasons. In this episode, I'm breaking down 10 principles that unstoppable men live by. Not when life is exciting, but when progress is slow, discipline feels heavy, and quitting seems reasonable. I didn't come to these principles because I'm naturally disciplined. I came to them because I lost momentum more times than I can count in business, in life, in my own growth, and I had to learn how to keep going when motivation completely disappeared. What I'm sharing with you today is what actually works when no one's watching. If it's your first time here, my name is Michael Riggs. I'm a full time author, entrepreneur, men's personal development and marriage mentor, husband and father of six. And I teach men all over the world how to live fully optimized, leveled up lives and how to have happy, thriving, thriving marriages. So if that's something you're into, definitely stick around, subscribe to this podcast, subscribe to this channel, wherever you're getting this, because this is what we do here every week. And today I'm breaking down exactly how to keep going. When you feel stuck and unmotivated, stick around. Hello and welcome to the Warrior Kings podcast. I'm your host, Michael Riggs, here to assist you on your journey to living a fully optimized, leveled up life as a man. So again, welcome and welcome back to the Warrior Kings podcast. It's great to be here today, it's great to talk, talk to you today. A little bit of backstory for this episode. I've been an entrepreneur for quite a long time. I've pursued many different things, many different paths. And when it really comes down to it, when you're pursuing something, no matter how much you want that end result, no matter how much you want that thing to be successful, some days you just don't feel like doing it. You just don't feel motivated. There's other things that you would rather be doing in that moment, but what it really comes down to is you're not going to be motivated every day. I think it would be really rare to be a person who, who's just completely motivated every single day and it's just ready to go, go, go. You know, you're going to have days where you are thrown off, you don't feel like doing the thing. And that's basically what we're going to be talking about today, is when you don't feel motivated or when you feel burned out or you feel like you're not getting those results that you're seeking, and you think about throwing in the towel, just giving up, and being like, maybe I would be better off without this thing. I'm going to be talking about how to stay motivated in those moments. So if that's you, if you've been going after a dream, or even if you want to go after a dream you're calling purpose, you could get ahead of things by learning this information and this wisdom. And like I said in the intro, I had to learn all this stuff the hard way, like learning how to be consistent, how to be motivated when I didn't feel motivated. That was a huge lesson to learn. And that's one of the only reasons that I'm still here talking to you today after two years of doing this podcast and building the Warrior Kings brand, is because I stayed consistent even when I didn't feel like it. So I hope that you're well, wherever you're finding this, it's going to be a powerful episode. So let's dive right in, into it. The real reason you lose motivation is a lack of direction, not a lack of drive. You need to get clear on the end goal, the end destination. Where are you going? What is the end result of the thing? And then don't lose sight of that. And there's an exercise that I've talked about probably two dozen times on the podcast. So I apologize if this is like the 20th time that you've heard this or whatever, but there's an exercise that I have people do, and it's writing out the vision of your dream life and what that looks like. If everything were to work out for you, if you were successful in your endeavors, if your dream life came true, what does that life look like? And what you're going to do is write that out in bullet points or number it step by step, thing by thing. What that life looks like, what kind of house do you live in? What kind of car do you drive? What are your relationships in your friendships like? What is your relationship with God look like? What kind of career do you have? What kind of success do you have? Whatever success looks like to you. You write out the vision of your dream life and get really clear on it as that end goal, that end destination, and be like, this is the direction I'm moving in. And then what you do is you determine the steps that you need to begin taking immediately to move in the direction of having that dream life, that dream life coming true. And this will give you direction on that end goal, that dream life, where you're going. And then you don't want to lose sight of that because on those days that you don't feel motivated, you don't feel like doing the thing, you know where you're going, and you say, if I don't stay consistent in doing the thing, that dream life is never going to be mine, it's never going to come true. So a lot of times maybe you don't lack motivation, maybe, maybe you lack direction, clarity on where you're going, what the end result, the end goal is. And if you had that ever present in your mind those days where you start out feeling like, I don't even feel like doing it today, you would definitely do it anyways. Because you know that the consequence of not doing that is failing at achieving those goals, those dreams and that dream life. And really quick here, before we move forward, I just want to remind you that if you click out of these episodes early, you're missing out on wisdom that I have obtained over the years through trial and error, learning the hard way. And you will be missing the framework that keeps men moving when motivation fails. Most men don't quit because they're incapable. They quit because nobody ever taught them how to operate during the quiet, boring, hard parts. And that's what this episode is all about. And the second principle that I want to talk about today is the contrast between motivation and consistency and what actually changes your life. Daily consistent action leads to great outcomes. You know what doesn't lead to great outcomes? Skipping days, taking a day off, taking many days off, saying, I'll get to that when I get to it, I'll do it later. Procrastination. That is what doesn't build great results. Daily consistent action. Doing the thing even when you don't feel like it creates great results. And every day you skip waiting for motivation, waiting to feel like it is a day lost. You will never get that day back. And if you had done the thing anyways, you would have made at least some progress on the thing. You understand what I'm saying? Even if you like, you put in minimal effort on the thing, you have done something and that is better than doing nothing. So don't wait for motivation, don't wait to feel like it. Do the thing anyways, regardless of how you feel. And that daily consistent action will lead to that great result, that great success that you are seeking in your life. If you ever get frustrated and think like, why didn't this thing take off yet? Why am I not bigger than I am in this thing right now, look inward and say, oh, maybe it's because all those days that I just didn't feel like it. And another thing is when you don't feel like it, sometimes if you just get started on the thing, let's use working out for example. You don't feel like working out, you don't feel like exercising right now. Sometimes if you just get started, if you push yourself to get started, you do one set of reps or you just start running. Whatever your movement looks like, whatever your exercise looks like. Sometimes when you actually just get started on the thing, the motivation comes and suddenly you do way more than you ever would have on those regular days you do feel like doing it and you're like, wow, I started out not even wanting to do this thing, I didn't even feel like it. And now I've broken my record. You understand what I'm saying? So what it really comes down to is just getting started. Just get started when you don't feel like it, when you lack motivation, just get started. Whatever that thing is. Let's say you're writing a book, you've always wanted to write a book, and most days you just don't feel like sitting down and writing. Well, guess what, maybe that book will never exist because you're waiting for motivation. So sit down, begin writing, and eventually the words will begin flowing. Trust me, because I've been there a million times and some of you don't know this, but I used to be a fantasy and sci fi author and I've written quite a few novels and I've written a couple of non fiction books now. And a lot of days I didn't feel like writing, but I understood the concept that if I write something every day, eventually it's going to be a whole book. And it will never be a book if I'm not writing. And the third principle here, the third success principle that I want to share with you today is how to build a fire inside when no one else is cheering for you. People often don't care about the journey, especially friends and family and things like that. And you might find yourself, as I did when I was first getting started, a little bit disappointed, a little bit offended, a little bit ticked off, like, why isn't anybody supporting me in this thing? And honestly, for most people I think it's natural that, that lack of support, that lack of people cheering you on, kills motivation. But like I said, people often don't care about the journey. They care when you have the results. And when you have those results, when you've built a dream, then be like, oh, I get it. That's what he was doing the whole time. They're not going to get it in the beginning. They're not going to get it while you're building the thing. And it's not their job to get it while you're building the thing. It's not their job to validate you in the thing. So you need to know how to have motivation, how to have consistency and keep doing the thing even when there's no one there to support you, even when there's no one there to cheer you on. Quit posting about the thing and getting disappointed when your friends and family didn't push like on it. Just be doing the thing. You don't need to prove anything to anyone except for yourself. I used to get offended when friends and family didn't support me. I made the huge mistake in my early years pursuing things of, you know, everything that I created, everything that I did, I would post it on my Instagram story, on my personal account, and I would be like, look at this accomplishment that I achieved. And I would see all of the people who I know and love, friends and family, see the thing and not even care about it. And I would get so frustrated and offended by that. I would post things like, hey, all you have to do is go and support this thing and it will help me reach the next level. Level, you know, all I need is engagement on this thing and then it will be boosted in the algorithm and that will bring me success. And I found that it was just crickets. Nobody cared. Nobody cared to help me out. Maybe that's a me thing, man. Maybe I suck. I don't know. But I'm just saying that even if people are supporting you, even if people aren't cheering you on, you have to have motivation and drive anyways. Stay consistent in doing the thing. Don't seek validation from other people, only validate yourself. Know where you're going, know what that end result is, keep it ever present in your mind and stick to it. And then when you have that dream life, when you have those big picture ideal results, when all your dreams come true, then they'll say, I know that guy, I know him and I supported him all along. And you'll be able to say, yeah, well, that's bull. But okay, you know but the point of this is have motivation and drive. Validate yourself rather than seeking validation from other people and for them to cheer you on. Motivation comes from you. Your consistency comes from you. The results are in your hands, nobody else's. It is up to you. Do that you're doing for the right reasons, not for external validation. The fourth thing that I want to talk about today is the necessity of hard seasons for masculine strength. While you're pursuing a thing, while you're building a thing, while you're going after a thing, there are going to be hard times. It just comes with it. There are going to be ups and there are going to be downs. Trust me, as someone who has had their fair share of downs. But the thing is overcoming those things, overcoming those trials, overcoming those roadblocks, those walls that appear in front of you builds wisdom. It builds character. It prepares you for the blessing. Everything that you face, that is, that seems like it's trying to stop you in your tracks, is building you into becoming the person that is necessary to receive that dream life. If everything were to work out from you from day one, from the very beginning, the first thing that you build, the first thing that you put out there, honestly, you might just crash and burn immediately because you have not been built and prepared into the person who can handle that level of success with the thing. You have to learn, you have to grow, you have to mess up, restart, try again, adjust. There is so much to learn about everything, no matter what you're pursuing. There is no guru and there is no expert. There is something for everyone to learn. And that's why I make a point to be constantly and consistently learning in my life. But these roadblocks that you face, these down times, the times where it seems like everything is falling apart and you should just quit and run back home, those are the times that are building you in wisdom. They're growing you as the person who is someday going to be the person to receive that dream, dream life. You understand what I'm saying? So if something tries to stop you, you must overcome that thing. When you overcome that thing, you will be glad that you did it. And you have learned and grown in wisdom from that. And then you can move forward and not make the same mistakes and be better as you move forward. So don't give up, don't throw in the towel when times get hard. Understand constantly that you are learning and growing through those seasons. Any man who did anything great had to overcome adversity and trials and things that tried to stop. If everything just worked out, you would end up being weak in that thing because you haven't been crafted and molded into strength yet. Sometimes you're just not ready to receive the blessing. You need to learn some things, you need to go through some things in order to be ready to receive that blessing. But if you stay consistent, if you keep going anyways, you will grow in wisdom and that breakthrough will come. Number five is most men give up right before the breakthrough. I think about this all the time. How many people probably gave up right before they reach success? If you've been going at it for a while, if you have been building a thing for a while and you feel like you have seen no results and you feel like you should just give up on the thing, how do you know that you're not right around the corner from all of your dreams coming true? And I guarantee you that there are so many people in this world who gave up right before the breakthrough. And there are many things that I pursued in my past that I gave up on that I quit and I said, I can't do this anymore. And I look back at those things, I look back at those memories and say, man, if I would have just kept going, doing that by now, I would be a multi millionaire. I think about that literally all the time now. I'm glad that those things didn't work out because I probably wouldn't be here talking to you today. Like this is my true calling, my true purpose. But I do think about it like if I had just stayed consistent in that thing, eventually it would have taken off because it was actually really good. I was actually really good at the thing. But it was ultimately leading me up and teaching me and growing me in skills, trades, wisdom, all the way up until I'm talking to you here today. It was all leading up to this. But so many people give, give up before the results come because they're not seeing results coming. And what you need to accept is that you might be playing the long game and making short term sacrifices for long term gains and that it will pay off eventually and ask yourself, would you rather quit now when things get hard and live in future regret, or look back someday and say, I overcame that thing. That is the story, that's the success story. What a boring success story it would be if everything just worked out for you. No, it makes it interesting. Interesting. You had to overcome all these things. You stuck with it even when it seemed like it was failing, even when you were seeing no numbers rise, you stuck with the thing that is the success story. So don't give up because you might just be giving up right before the breakthrough. Number six is the power of remembering why you got started. Never lose sight of the why. Why is this your purpose and calling? Why are you doing the thing? What is that end result? This goes back to the beginning of this episode. Don't lose sight of the goal, the dream, mission, the vision. Don't lose sight of the why. You know, a lot of times, especially if we get busy caught up in the thing, building the thing, we lose sight of the why because we're just focused on making the thing happen. And it becomes routine and burnout comes because the routine and routine and routine and you're not seeing any results. And then it's easy to lose sight of the why, why you got started, why you're doing the thing. And the key to success is to keep the why ever present in your mind. The reason why you are going after the thing or doing the thing. Don't get caugh up in striving, don't get caught up in tasks and duties and completely miss the point, miss the magic, miss the why. Because in those times where you don't feel motivated, in those times where you feel burned out, on those days that you just don't feel like it, the why will keep you going. Number seven on this list is taking ownership of your energy and motivation. It's up to you and nobody else. Like we talked about earlier, don't look for validation in anything except for yourself. Yourself. Take ownership of your energy and your motivation. Don't outsource it to anyone else. Look within and understand that if you're not getting it done, it's your fault. And if you are getting it done, it's your fault. And one leads to the dream not coming true and the other leads to the dream coming true. Which one are you going to choose? And keep your mindset right constantly and consistently. Like, don't let your mind just run on autopilot. Take control of your thoughts. Take every thought captive. Take control of your mind and your mindset, your energy, your motivation, where you're going, how your life ends up. It's all up to you. There's no fairy that's going to come along and sprinkle motivation dust on you every single morning. You have to make the decision to be motivated. You have to make the decision to have energy and to go after the thing anyways. Like I said, it is all up to you. And as soon as you take ownership of that and hold yourself accountable, you will be capable of greatness Number eight on this list is how micro wins build momentum. And you might have heard me talk about this before if you've been here a while. I've been talking about it a lot recently. But small actions compound over time to create big results. And one of the things about this is celebrating your wins, no matter how small they are, no matter how small they seem. Celebrate your wins, take note of them. Don't just let it become the norm and let it slip by and always be seeking a bigger and better win because then you can find yourself in a place where you're never fully satisfied. There is huge, huge power in celebrating every win, even the small ones, to stay motivated, to stay on the right path, to have that energy, to have that drive, to have that fire inside every little win, even if it's just internally inside. You say, yes, yes, go me. You say, thank you, God. Celebrate everyone, no matter how small it seems. And micro wins, those small wins build momentum. Especially if you are acknowledging them and you're letting them drive you. They will build momentum into bigger and bigger and bigger wins. And that comes from gratitude mostly. If you're feeling grateful for every little thing instead of just seeking more, more, more gratitude, attitude, being thankful, acknowledging those small wins leads to bigger things, bigger blessings, greater things happening for you. Like if you get a small win and you're just like, yeah, it happens all the time, cool. But what I'm looking for is those big numbers. That puts you in a dangerous position because you don't want to be ungrateful for the journey. Be grateful for the journey too. Like I said, that is the story. You're living the story right now. That is the success story. And I know you want those big results and I know you want those big wins. You want that dream life, life. But if you don't appreciate anything else until you get that, chances are you're never going to get that end result. Big picture, vision, that dream life, because you might just not appreciate that too. Number nine is using adversity for acceleration, not destruction. One thing that you can teach yourself to do, what you can train yourself to do, what you can learn to do, is to use your setbacks, use those roadblocks as fuel to push you forward. Most people let setbacks knock them down. When Roadblock shows up on their path, they say just turn around and go back. You need to transmute that into fuel for your vision, motivation. Turn that into motivation. Overcome that thing. You can actually train yourself to enjoy those roadblocks, that adversity and overcoming it. Let it fuel your fire. And every time that you overcome one of those roadblocks, every time you overcome one of those things, every time you overcome adversity, feel it deeply as a victory, and then keep going. Don't let everything knock you down or stop you in your tracks or make you feel like you're going to quit. That's not how greatness is forged. If everybody quit when times got tough, nobody would do anything great. Anybody who ever did anything great had to overcome challenges to get there. And if you just tuck your tail and run away every time you face some adversity in life, every time times get tough, what it really comes down to is that you're a wuss. And you don't want to be a wuss, right? You want to be the guy who overcame. Once again, you are writing the success story right now. Now. And what kind of success story would it be if there was no overcoming, if there were no challenges, and if there was no adversity? That'd be a pretty boring success story. I wouldn't want to listen to that one myself. I would probably turn it off, switch to another video. You know what I'm saying? And another thing is using hater energy as fuel to the fire as well. Use it as motivation. Use it as entertainment even. That's something that I've been doing recently. When I get hater comments, people hate on me or people criticize me or, you know, that people say all kinds of crazy stuff. I honestly just laugh now because it's so ridiculous. My life is so good that there is nothing that you can tell me that is going to knock me off. I don't care if you have a doctorate in men's motivation. There is nothing that you can say to me that's going to knock me off. I've been too successful in this thing and helps way too many people in their lives and had way too many people thank me profusely for helping them in their lives. To ever let someone make me feel like I'm less or that the thing that I'm doing is stupid. But back to using haters as fuel for the fire. Instead of letting it hurt you and offend you and hurt your feelings or knock you down, use it as fuel. Use that as motivation. Like, let me make up an example here. Like, if you're on a fitness journey and that's your goal, you want to be a ripped, fit, healthy dude and you're actually a chubby guy. Like you've been chubby for a while and you step out and you start going after that thing and somebody hates on you and says, you know, whatever insult they would say to you, don't let that knock you down or hurt your feelings or offend you or make you feel like giving up. Use it as fuel for the fire. Keeping the end result, the end big picture vision in your mind. Visualize yourself as that ripped, fit, healthy guy and know that that's where you're actually going. And then kind of laugh at that hater or whatever that adversity is and then push even harder. Use that as fuel for the fire. Knowing where you're going, knowing that success is inevitable. Because it is. If you stay consistent, even when you don't feel motivated, success is inevitable. So don't let the opinions and judgments of other people, the dumb comments from haters, the backhanded comments from whoever, don't let that stop you. Use it as energy. Use that as motivation. Transmute negativity into positive direction. And the tenth and final thing that I want to talk about today is motivational environment.
[00:23:23] What does your life look like and sound like? What are you choosing for it to look like and sound like? Is your room a mess? Is there stuff scattered all about your life? Is your car a mess? What kind of music are you listening to? What are you putting in your ears and in your mind? What kind of content are you consuming? What kind of routines are you following? All of this comes together as a whole to determine your success or your not success. You want to keep a motivational environment, keep your space clean so that you can have a clear mind, a clear head. Systemize everything. We've been talking a lot lately about systemize your life. Have systems in place to be to make sure that you have everything done on a schedule to give you freedom in your mind, to free up some space in your mind to even have motivation. Like keep your space clean. Pay attention to what you're listening to. Don't listen to negative aggressive music that's going to fill your head with negative thoughts or tell you how to think. Only listen to positive, uplifting things. There is great power in what you listen to and that might be affecting your motivation if you want to stay motivated. Don't listen to bull. What kind of content are you consuming? Is it content that makes you feel paranoid, stressed? Does it give you anxiety? Is it negative? Make sure that you are only consuming positive content that is going to help you grow in in your life, your entire life, your entire environment. Everything about your life has to be focused around growth and where you're going Again, that big picture end results, dream life vision, if anything isn't supporting that and you moving in that direction, then it needs to either be gotten rid of or changed completely. What kind of people are you hanging out with? What does your environment look like? Get around success minded people, people who believe in what you're doing. People who you can support as well. And you can support each other. Don't spend your time around people who drag you and make you feel like shit. Don't hang out with losers anymore. Keep an optimized motivational environment.
[00:25:20] Optimize every aspect of your life so that the motivation, the energy, the inspiration can flow effortlessly, seamlessly. Because it is your life, you are surrounded by it constantly. And my final takeaway for you here today is motivation is built, not found. It's up to you, it comes from you. And there are things that you can do to build your motivation. And on those days that you just don't feel like it, it just get started anyways. Go after the thing, do the thing. Have what they call relentless pursuit of the dream of the end result. Keep the why ever present in your mind. And if you keep going every single day, if you stay consistent, success is inevitable. Success will come. And you need to remember that. When times get tough, when you don't feel like doing it anymore, say I am making short term sacrifices for long term gains. When people don't believe in you, when people doubt the thing you're doing, say I am making short term sacrifices, sacrifices for long term gains. And you will see when I get there, you will see when I make it. And you know what? They will. So keep going. And that's what I got for you guys today. I hope you got something out of this episode. I hope this inspired you in some way in your life. I hope this gave you some motivation to have motivation, right? If it's your first time here and you want to know more about me, there's all kinds of links in the description of this episode. My books are on there, all kinds of resources on are on there, my social medias, all that kind of stuff. There's a link tree link where you can find all my stuff. So it's great to talk to you today. It's great to be here today. Get out there, kill it. Have a great week guys. And I will see you next Sunday evening or whenever you listen to the next episode. I love you. I'm proud of you. And there's a great calling and a purpose for your life. You listening to this right now? A life of overflowing abundance awaits you on the other side of you deciding to make the switch, make the change and level up every aspect of of your life again. Have a good week and I'll catch you on the next one. Thanks, guys. Bye.
