Motivation is a crucial factor in our lives — especially if you’re freelancing like me — because there is no 9 to 5, no boss or superior to give you directions, and absolutely no short-term penalty for being late to work, or even working at all.

In today’s world, you can probably get hundreds of thousands of books and YouTube videos, where people like Zig Ziglar or some retired Navy SEAL will be telling you how to be healthier, smarter, more productive.

And while information has never been more accessible to all of us, Tony Robins — who will probably be depicted as a deity of our time in the history books of the future, — says: “Knowledge is only potential power.” and this is one of the most profound statements I have heard in my life.

You’re probably asking yourself, what does this have to do with motivation, right? For me, everything. Whenever I wanted to change a part of my life for the better, I used to research the topic and make plans. A lot of plans. How to to do it, what equipment I needed to buy (loved that part) and then watch a ton of YouTube videos and read a ton of books on the topic. And where did it get me? 

Well, by now, I can have a decent conversation with a professional nutritionist, because I read so many books on the topic of healthy eating and exercise, but still struggle to get my own diet in order. I can tell you so much about camera sensors and how they work, but the fact that I know about the tech, doesn’t really help me take better pictures.

Finding the motivation to learn how to change our lives is the first step to changing it, but it is also the easiest part. The biggest difficulty of making a change isn’t that people don’t know how bad smoking is or that the “food” at McDonald’s is garbage, it’s that they haven’t experienced (or just forgotten) what life as a healthy individual is. 

How it feels to be productive, how it feels to complete a project a week before the deadline. And how it feels to decide to just go for a run, even though you haven’t done any sports for 10 years or more. So with the words of one of the most successful and memorable ad campaigns: “Just do it.”, because there is no other way.