Let's talk about your why. Whether you're listening to me right now and you're picking yourself back up, or you're cranking along. You got some big goal, and you would just love to destroy it this year. I mean, let's level up. Let's amplify. Let's swing for the fences, people. You want to tap into that self-motivation to really rocket-chip this puppy. What is it that you want? What is it that you're working on? And why do you want it? Why? And this is so important, and it's not just me saying it. It's not just common sense. There is breakthrough research that comes from the University of Oregon that has shown But you have to know your why in order to achieve your goals. Knowing your why matters. Based on the research, it's because when you know why something matters to you, it helps you with self-regulation. It helps you prioritize doing the work over other things that are not as important, but are easier to do. And this is essential, because if you know that something matters, you'll come home after ski practice, instead of taking a few extra runs with your friends, and you'll work on college applications because you know why it matters.

You'll get out of bed a little bit earlier to chip away at your resume instead of sleeping in this weekend because you'll know why it matters. And so this is grounded in the research. And we talked about this extensively in in a recent episode that I did on goals. In fact, I released it just a week ago, if you want to dive in deeper. And speaking of diving in deeper, I want to go to the second step that's going to help you tap into that self-motivation right when you really need to rev that engine back up. Let's just take a page from Nike, from the most powerful tagline on the planet of any brand anywhere. Just Do It. Three words. Just Do It. Do you know why that tagline is so powerful? I want you to stop and think about it. Just Do It. I ask this question a lot when I'm giving a keynote speech, and I'll stand in front of an audience of 10,000 people and say, In Nike's tagline, Just Do It, what do you think the single most important Important and powerful word of that tagline is? You know what everybody gets?

Do. Do. And I don't blame them because I take an action-first approach to life. But DO is wrong. That's not the reason why that tagline is so powerful. You know what everybody gets next when I tell them, No, it's not do. It. It. You got to know what you want. That's true. That's true. You do need to know what you want because when you know what you want, you now can align your actions with it. But that's not why that tagline is powerful, and I can prove it to you. Imagine if their tagline was just, Do it. Would that be that empowering? No. That's because the most powerful word in the entire tagline is just. Just is the universal moment of hesitation. It's that moment where you're standing on a sideline and you're thinking about whether you're going to jump into the game. You're thinking about whether or not you're going to do it. You're standing there because you're afraid, or you feel unworthy, or you feel like you might not be good enough to be in that game, or now might not be the right time to jump into the game. See, all of those emotions that you feel, they don't motivate you, they drive you to hesitate.

Because it's so easy, right, to stand on the sidelines and think about filling out applications, or think about applying for that job, or think about going out on another date. See, that's what Nike is referring to, how you and I sit in our heads and stand on the sidelines of life just waiting for inspiration or motivation to strike. That's why this tagline is so powerful, because Nike knows we are not motivated to do things that scare us. We are not motivated to step into the game. We are not motivated it comes to doing things that feel a little scary, that feel like they might challenge us, that feel like we might not be good enough. That's why they're saying, Just do it. They are calling you from the sidelines, because guess what? There is greatness in you. Even when you don't feel like it, there is greatness for you to tap into. There is greatness that you can apply to this situation. So how the heck do you summen it? Just do it. Push through the hesitation, because the power is in the action. Self motivation means you understand what you need to do, why you need to do it, and you force yourself, through the hesitation, to do the thing you don't feel like doing, regardless of your emotions, despite the fact that you're not motivated.

You do it because you know why why this matters. And the reason why it matters is because every time you push through that hesitation, every time you push through the lack of motivation, you tap into the greatness that is inside of you. You open the doors to a life that you're meant to lead. It's only through the action. And I've come to believe it's only through learning how to push through that moment of fear, that moment of hesitation, those moments when you don't feel like That's how you tap into the greatness. And there's one other thing I want to share to you in this regard of Just Do It, because the other night, I was out to dinner with our daughter, Sawyer, and her boyfriend, Gavin, and they knew that Oakley had not gotten into his school, and they were asking how he's feeling. And we were just talking about how hard it is. I mean, how hard it is to just pick yourself back up, especially when you didn't get what you worked for and put your best effort forward, even though you feel like a loser, you feel like you failed, or you feel like, why bother?

And Gavin was reflecting on his college process, and he had this really awesome philosophy. I'm going to steal this because I freaking love this. And it's something that he learned from his coach when he was playing D1 Lacrosse: fail at full speed. In life, I want you to fail at full speed. If you're going to apply to a top school or to your dream job, or you're going to try to overcome your health challenges, I want you to know in your heart that you ran at that thing as hard as you freaking could. That if you wanted it, if you know why you wanted it, that you freaking attacked it, no matter how you feel in this moment. That you don't let the temporary feelings stop you from Giving your all when the moment matters. And you know what I also love about this? Well, first of all, I love no motivation required. It didn't say, When you're motivated, make sure you fail full speed. No. Motivation is not part of this. It's 100% about who you are being. If you're going to fail at full speed, you're not going to wait around to feel motivated to do that.

You're going to push yourself. That's That's an ethos. That's a philosophy about how you attack the things that matter to you. Don't you want to be that person that gave it your all when it comes to the things that you really want in your life? I can't imagine any worse feeling than living with regret. Knowing that you just gave up. You just said, Whatever. I don't feel like it. I know it matters to me. I'd be willing to live with this heartache for my whole life, knowing I didn't truly take my best shot rather than the heartbreak of going for it and being told no. Wouldn't you rather fail at everything, knowing that you tried as hard as you could? I would. I'd rather do that than be successful to everybody on the outside, but no deep on the inside. I cut corners. I cheated my way there. I didn't really earn it. And here's the thing. Fail at full speed. It's about putting your heart into something that matters to you, running at the ball. But I do want to add one caveat, because I have said a lot in our conversations, especially recently, that you must slow down before you can step on the accelerator.

Being clear about the direction that you're headed in, way more important than how fast you're going. There are so many people just running in circles, no idea where they're headed, going nowhere fast. So let me explain what full speed means. It means slowing down so you understand what you want and why. And once you figure out what you want and why you want it, it means giving it your very best effort. How do you self-motivate? How do you pick yourself back up? How do you motivate yourself again when you feel like life just punched you in the face?