Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. — Jim Ryun, United States.
—What lingers after this line?
Role of Motivation
This quote highlights the initial spark of motivation, which is essential for taking the first step towards a goal. Motivation serves as the drive that ignites our desire to pursue aspirations.
Importance of Habits
Ryun emphasizes that while motivation can initiate action, it is the development of habits that sustains and ultimately leads to long-term success. Habits create a routine that incorporates consistent effort.
Sustaining Effort
The transition from motivation to habit is crucial, as initial enthusiasm can fade over time. Developing positive habits is what ensures ongoing progress and perseverance in the face of challenges.
Psychological Perspective
From a psychological standpoint, this quote touches on the concept that motivation is often transient, whereas habits are embedded in our daily routines and behaviors, making them more reliable for achieving goals.
Jim Ryun's Background
Jim Ryun is a former American middle-distance runner and politician known for his achievements in track and field. His insights stem from his experiences in athletics, where both motivation and habit play pivotal roles in performance.
Recommended Reading
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
One-minute reflection
What's one small action this suggests?
Related Quotes
6 selectedPeople often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing—that’s why we recommend it daily. — Zig Ziglar, United States.
Zig Ziglar, United States.
Zig Ziglar highlights that just like bathing, motivation requires consistency and regular practice to be effective in our lives.
Read full interpretation →If you want to be happy, if you want to be successful, if you want to be great, we have to develop the capability, we have to develop the day-to-day habits that allow this to ensue. — Epictetus
Epictetus
At its core, this saying presents happiness, success, and greatness not as accidents of fate but as capacities that must be cultivated. By repeating the phrase “we have to develop,” the thought shifts attention away from...
Read full interpretation →Every habit and capability is confirmed and grows in its corresponding actions, walking by walking, and running by running. — Epictetus
Epictetus
Epictetus argues that habits and abilities are not abstract possessions we simply claim to have; rather, they become real through repeated use. A person does not become steady by admiring steadiness, but by performing st...
Read full interpretation →Day by day, what you do is who you become. — Heraclitus
Heraclitus
Heraclitus’ line turns identity away from abstraction and toward habit. Rather than defining a person by intentions, labels, or isolated moments, it suggests that character is built through repetition: what you consisten...
Read full interpretation →Self-care is your fuel. Whatever the road ahead or the path you've taken, self-care is what keeps your motor running and your wheels turning. — Melissa Steginus
Melissa Steginus
Melissa Steginus frames self-care through the language of travel and machinery, turning an abstract wellness concept into something immediate and practical. By calling self-care ‘your fuel,’ she suggests that care for th...
Read full interpretation →We should discipline ourselves in small things, and from these progress to things of greater value. — Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius frames discipline not as a dramatic transformation but as a gradual practice that begins in ordinary life. The force of the statement lies in its humility: before a person can govern weighty matters, he m...
Read full interpretation →More From Author
More from Jim Ryun, United States. →