How I Sustain Motivation to Exercise Daily

I haven’t missed a daily workout in over a decade. People often assume I am highly disciplined.

I am human — like everyone else, I have days when I just don’t “feel like” working out.

As a neurodivergent person, I struggle with the low motivation that is correlated to lower dopamine levels.

Adding to that, I have hypervigilance when doing certain movements, like back squats. My nervous system often shuts down when I try to squat.

I go through phases where my workouts feel like too much. This is especially the case when the workout involves movements that I find especially challenging, like squats.

Dopamine: The Key to Motivation

Dopamine is the chemical often associated with pleasure, but it’s role is actually tied to motivation. In evolutionary terms, dopamine is what keeps us coming back the next day.

Social media, gambling, sugar, alcohol, email — all of these are unhealthy ways we might generate dopamine. It’s the “addiction” chemical.

The Problem With Constant Goals

One “healthy” way experts advise to generate dopamine is by setting mini goals and accomplishing them.

The problem with this is that in the gym — as in other parts of life — constantly aiming for bigger goals can often lead down a path of chasing the next achievement.

The goals will need to get progressively bigger, which often leads to overworking or over-training.

In addition, when we hit a plateau — and eventually we hit plateaus — we lose the dopamine effect of the activity.

That’s when we need to switch to a different strategy.

Solution: Make It Fun

Not every workout needs to be super challenging or overloading.

That doesn’t mean it needs to be easy.

A workout can can be light in terms of the load but challenging in terms of the movements or pacing. It can be heavy in labor and light in attitude.

It can be hard and fun.

It doesn’t always have to be so serious.

From Workouts to Work

The same is true for work.

Our Puritanical culture praises the “hard work” approach, and tends to separate the concepts of work and play.

Work is serious. Play can be fun.
Work is hard. Play can be easy.

What if that’s just a construct?

Workouts don’t have to be “work.” They can be fun and lighthearted and playful. And work doesn’t have to be so serious. It can have moments of levity and playfulness.

When It Gets Too Heavy, Switch It Up

Whenever my workouts or work feels too heavy, or if I notice too much resistance coming up to a workout, I know that forcing myself to “power through” usually backfires.

Instead, that’s a signal I need to switch things up — even if just for a day. Doing a workout that feels less emotionally “heavy” — even if physically challenging — keeps me in a good mindset about my workouts.

Infusing workouts and work with fun creates a natural dopamine boost that leaves me feeling excited to come back the next day.

And usually that fun gives me extra motivation to push a little harder out of my comfort zone.