Motivation Won’t Get You There – But This Will: Build Consistent Habits Have you ever been so motivated that you felt nothing can stop you? Yet, after few weeks, or even days, your goals were just a distant memory?
You’re not alone.
The problem is that we keep relying on motivation and willpower. Motivation and willpower are like phone battery, at the beginning of the day they are full, but next time you look at your phone, it’s in red, reading 13%.
Our willpower and motivation gets depleted as we encounter challenges during the day: stressful moments , hunger , overwhelm of tasks , distractions , negative thoughts .
What makes it even harder is the fact that our brains are wired to seek short-term rewards and discount the future benefits – that tasty muffin NOW is just so much better than some FUTURE six-pack abs.
If you want to achieve your goals and stay consistent, you can’t rely on motivation or willpower alone , but you have to build consistent habits and stay accountable .
When you create habits , they do what they are designed to do – make you act on autopilot . That’s what habits are, automatic behaviors .
Instead of skipping your morning yoga workout or postponing your Medium article publication by a week because you “don’t feel like it,” you’ll find yourself in your yoga outfit or at your desk typing, without even realizing how you got there.
If you’re ready to break free from the constant boom-and-bust cycle of habit-building and finally create consistent habits and stay accountable, read on.
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Motivation Failed Him for 24 Years In September last year, a client told me that for the first time in 24 years, he had stuck to his goals and stayed consistent with his habits.
Every January, he would follow the same pattern: Set goals, feeling super motivated and excited By March, 75% of his motivation would be gone By June, he would struggle to stick to even a few goals By September, all goals would be forgotten, only to be revived again next January Last year, he got tired of this cycle of setting goals, losing motivation , and not achieving them. So, he decided to do something different. He got himself a coach.
How Coaching Helped Him Stay on Track We started working together in March: right when his motivation would usually start to fade.
This is what happened: ✅ By June, he was killing it. He was nailing new healthy habits, keeping his habit tracker up to date, and staying consistent.
✅ By September, he told me it was the first time in 24 years he had stayed on track with his goals and habits
My client decided to bet on consistency and accountability.
How did he stay consistent and accountable? He committed to weekly coaching sessions that provided the structure to stick to.
✅ We met almost every week since we started working together.
✅ The coaching sessions created consistent accountability for him.
The One Habit That Changed Everything My client committed to his goals by investing in a coaching partnership, and we kept his goals and habits at the center of every coaching conversation. He kept showing up, and I kept holding space for him.
By creating the consistent habit of attending coaching sessions, he created the consistent habit of focusing on his goals and taking action.
So, how can you stay consistent like my client did? Whether you work with a coach or not, here are some proven ways to build habits that stick.
Start Building Consistent Habits Today – With or Without a Coach Coaching isn’t the only way to build consistent habits. What matters is your commitment, accountability, and the system you create for yourself.
Start Small and Easy, with a Clear Goal This year, I decided to start long-distance running again after 20 years. I want to run a half-marathon in July, but since I haven’t been running consistently, I decided to take it easy.
My January and February goal was to run twice a week —shorter distances on Wednesdays, longer on Saturdays. In March, I added one extra bi-weekly run on Mondays.
Whatever your goal is, don’t go overboard when starting. I had a client who started with just two minutes of daily exercise. Don’t worry about what goals others set – set the goal that works for you. Small wins build momentum and give you that success you need to keep going. Eventually you will build consistent habits .
Action for you: What goal do you want to create momentum in? What’s your monthly (or quarterly) goal? Break it down what that means for you on a daily or weekly basis.
Track Your Progress Planning isn’t enough. To keep going, you need to create positive feedback by tracking and reviewing your progress.
If you asked me how many kilometers I ran in January, I’d check my Google Sheet and tell you: 48.25 km.
You can track progress in many ways: Print a weekly checklist with the actions you want to take and tick them off daily Use a habit-tracking app (I use Habit Now) List every potential client you sent a DM to Use Toggl to track the time spent on goal-related activities Take a weekly photo of your abs What matters is making it easy for yourself to track and review your progress.
Action: How will you track and review your progress? Set it up.
Accountability Matters when you want to Build Consistent Habits Let’s be honest—most of us struggle to stay accountable to ourselves. If your boss wants something? No problem! If you want it? Maybe next time!
Here are a few ways to stay accountable: Share your goal with a supportive business buddy, friend, or relative Try Focusmate for focused work sessions with real-time accountability Post your goal and progress updates on social media Set up a reward (or consequence) for yourself Join a community working toward a similar goal or hire a coach for 1:1 support
Action: Now that you have a clear goal and a way to track your progress, how will you stay accountable? Take an action.
Motivation Will Always Fade The truth is, motivation will always fade . But if you create habits , track progress , and build accountability , you won’t need motivation because you’ll just do it . That’s the real secret to success.
What’s one goal you’ve struggled to stay consistent with? Even if you’re not ready for coaching, you can start building consistency today. Pick one small habit , track it , and review your progress regularly. The key is making it easy and staying accountable.
I always love hearing from you – send me an email at zuzana@zuzanamukumayi.com or LinkedIn DM and use this as a great accountability opportunity.
And if you need extra support or get there faster, I’m here to help—book a free consultation , and let’s make sure you don’t have to set the same goals again next January!
I’m here to help, book a free consultation now 
