The Secret to Staying Motivated for YEARS

Nine months ago, I gave birth to our second child. And let me tell you—having a baby in a nuclear family, far from home, isn’t just a transition… it’s a disruption. Sleep schedules? Gone. Work? Chaotic. Your time? Ha! Not your own anymore.

In all that noise, I needed something steady. Something just for me. So, a couple of months ago, I started doing math for 20–30 minutes a day. No big goal. No test. Just math problems, working through proofs, stretching my brain.

Friends and family noticed. “Wait… math? Every day? Why?”

What they were really asking was:

How do you keep showing up despite the ups and downs?

How do you invest in something today that won’t pay off tomorrow—but over years, over decades?

How do you stay motivated?

There are Two Ways to Stay Motivated

Internal Motivation. It is the quiet force that keeps you going when no one is watching.

External Motivation. That’s the outside validation. New clients. Promotions. Applause. Those little dopamine hits that push you forward.

We need both.

Rely only on external motivation and what happens when they don’t come fast enough? You quit. Go all-in on internal motivation, and you risk working in silence forever, never testing your ideas against reality.

People who succeed long-term? They learn how to balance both.

If external motivation is slipping, reconnect with your internal reason for starting. If internal motivation is running low, find small external wins to reignite the spark.

A New Side Project

Here’s a personal example: I’m thinking about vlogging on YouTube.

Here are my Internal Motivations:

• First, before anything takes off—before success, before an audience—you have to put yourself out there. You have to start.
• Second, I love the joy of creating—not for the views, but for the process itself.
• Third, writing helps me sharpen my thoughts.
• Fourth, vlogging will refine my ability to communicate.
• Fifth, I will speed up my learning. Why? Because the best way to master something is to explain it to someone else.
• Finally, unlike a private journal, YouTube gives me something a notebook never could—feedback from reality.

And if I push through? Maybe, just maybe, external rewards will follow. Watching subscriber count and watch time increase? That’s validation. More importantly, building credibility in a niche could open career doors.

But here’s the thing—I don’t want YouTube or media to be my career. So, I can’t go all in.

What’s my hack? Simple. I’m using this side project as a way to code scripts in Python to automate the many tedious steps that go into video creation. Basically… automate the tactical work.

That way, I still get to create—without getting bogged down in repetitive tasks. Efficiency meets creativity. And who knows? Maybe this blend of coding + content will open unexpected doors.

The Takeaway

At the end of the day, it’s not about quick wins. It’s about endurance.

Don’t just play to win. Play to stay in the game.