Sustaining motivation over the long term is challenging, especially during days when energy feels low. However, it is precisely on these “bad” days that our character is forged. Ultimately, emotions are essential in helping us harness motivation. On demotivated days, try negatively visualizing—imagining what failure would look like if we stopped pursuing our goals. What would our performance become if we quit training? Then, on the better days, use positive emotions as signals that we are moving in the right direction, reinforcing the progress we’ve made and the path ahead.

Use them to reaffirm our love and passion for our craft or sport. They are driving forces that enhance our life satisfaction, relationships, and goals.

When do we feel more motivated: after a win or a loss, or after a great performance versus a poor one? When we lose or perform poorly, we become driven. We may feel insubordinate, worthless, or inadequate, but these are all just signs that we are not where we wish to be and have space to grow. Negative emotions are instigators of action that compound into change.

Remember, emotions don’t happen to us; we produce them to highlight experience—nothing more. Positive and negative exist only in the mind, so why not use the negative, for lack of a better word, to inspire positive change?

This means, first, that there is tremendous nuance in how individuals experience emotions. Second, it suggests that emotions don’t happen to us, but our brain actively constructs them. Understanding this provides a profound sense of freedom: we are not indefinitely tethered to our emotions, and we have the power to change our emotional state if we choose.

Emotions serve as a means of helping us navigate and illuminate experiences—this is why we so vividly remember moments of intense discomfort or joy. The next time we perform and experience strong emotional reactions, we can observe the state, recognize it as a temporary experience, and use it as a guide to better understand and navigate our performance. 

Over the next few days, we will explore emotions in-depth, creating space to understand and harness them. What is an emotion, and what is its purpose? Why do we experience emotions, and how can we use them effectively? How can we cultivate emotional states that sustain high performance? By mastering our emotions, we can transform them from obstacles into powerful allies, driving consistent growth and peak performance.

Quick exercise to start: Take a moment and be mindful. Observe the mind as you read these words. Notice that voice in your head reading this passage? This narrator is your inner voice. We often don’t notice it, as it hides beyond perception, but it’s always there.

The first tool for developing mental resilience is mindfulness. When we practice mindfulness, it allows us to observe our inner voice. In other words, we direct our attention and focus toward the narrator of our life. Its essence—whether positive or negative, self-critical or open-minded, optimistic or pessimistic—becomes illuminated.

Tool No. 2 is using mindfulness to change our inner voice so it works for us, not against us. We are all a collection of stories, and the stories we tell ourselves determine our mindset. If you think you can or can’t, you’re right, so choose to make them work for you. Cultivate a positive inner voice.

Tariq, an Umayyad commander and leader of the Muslim conquest of Visigothic Hispania, and an army of 7,000 crossed the Strait of Gibraltar in 711. Upon their arrival, he ordered all his ships to be burnt, desolating himself and his men with one goal and only two outcomes: death or conquest. Three years later, they had conquered two-thirds of the Iberian Peninsula.

Tariq removed optionality. He replaced “we might, we could, we can” — one is wise to remove these entirely from their vocabulary — with “we must.” He blurred the lines so that conquest or death became the only options. 

That is absolute motivation. There is nothing like committing entirely. It demands mind, body, and soul while propelling us into action. Entertaining half-truths is never in our interest. Full-immersion, characterized by “I must,” is the only true path toward the mesmerizing attraction of sheer irrevocability.

This reality is not unfair. Rather, it is freeing. We are blessed with the nature of experience. Allowed a chance to unshackle ourselves from illusions of unimportance and live in the eternal present.

So go live. Create. Explore. Roam and wander. Suffer and survive. Triumph and fall. Cry. Laugh. Fall in love. Have our hearts broken. Live with passion and purpose. Disregard it all in favor of simplicity. Bask in the diversity of experience. Choose to pursue the moment above all else. The rest is illusory.

1. Sleep to regulate the body and keep us mentally balanced.
2. Whole foods to nourish the mind and body.
3. Mindfulness to observe the mind and provide balance.
4. Intimate relationships to explore the depths of the human experience.
5. Sunshine to bathe in the energy of life.
6. Nature to remain in touch with our being and belonging.
7. Movement to keep the body spry and physically fit.
8. Learning to sharpen the mind and remain curious.
9. Seeking new experiences to keep life full of wonder.
10. Gratitude to remind ourselves of beauty.

Simple is always more useful than complex. Add by subtracting. If complex, simplify it. If unable, eliminate it. Be wary of more. Abide a minimalist approach. Our work, and sake of mind, will thank us.