10-08-2025
Feeling stuck in your career? Science says you need wisdom, not willpower, to stay motivated
Motivation Is a Skill, Not a Gift
Why So Many Goals Fail
The 'Middle Problem'
If you have ever beaten yourself up for 'not being motivated enough,' science has a surprising message for you. According to motivation scientist and University of Chicago professor Ayelet Fishbach , the key to staying motivated is not about willpower or grit — it is about knowing how to work with your mind and in her TED Talk, "The Science of Motivation ," Fishbach challenges one of the most common metaphors we use for motivation. 'It's not a muscle,' she says. 'It's knowledge.'Many people believe some are naturally 'stronger' when it comes to self-control. Fishbach says this view is misleading. Motivation, she explains, is something you can learn and refine. Her science-backed framework is simple: to stay motivated, you either change the situation itself or change how you think about example, she recalls wanting to walk more. Instead of forcing herself through sheer discipline, she got a puppy who loves long walks — turning the task into something she looked forward to rather than research, cited in her book Get It Done: Surprising Lessons from the Science of Motivation, reveals that the biggest reason people abandon goals is not because they are unimportant, but because they are unenjoyable to pursue.'Most goals are about wanting to have done something rather than wanting to do it,' she says in the TED Talk. This gap between the desire for the outcome and the reluctance to embrace the process often leads to quitting advice: set goals that excite you along the way, not just at the finish line. If you enjoy the process, you are far more likely to stick with when people start strong, motivation tends to fade during the middle phase of a project. Fishbach calls this 'the middle problem.' Motivation is naturally high at the start and toward the end, but the mid-point often feels like a solution? Make middles shorter. Instead of setting a vague yearly resolution, break it into monthly, weekly, or even daily goals so the finish line always feels close enough to push perspective reframes motivation from a matter of personal toughness to one of strategic design. By aligning goals with enjoyment, breaking them into shorter spans, and altering your environment to make progress natural, you can make motivation other words, you do not need to be 'stronger' to achieve your goals — you just need to be wiser about how you set them.
