Why You Don’t Need Motivation to Row Well…And What to Do Instead
It’s 5:15am. Your alarm goes off for morning practice.
You don’t feel motivated. At all.
Your bed is warm. It’s dark outside. You’re tired. Every part of you wants to hit snooze and skip practice.
Most rowers think this is a problem. That lack of motivation means something’s wrong. That you need to “get motivated” before you can train effectively.
But waiting for motivation is waiting for your brain to randomly cooperate. And your brain’s cooperation isn’t required for effective training.
Most rowers operate from this equation:
Motivation → Action → Results
They wait to feel motivated, then they take action, then they get results.
The problem? Motivation is a feeling. And feelings change based on sleep quality, stress levels, weather, whether you had a good breakfast, how practice went yesterday, and approximately 47 other variables you don’t control.
When you make action dependent on motivation, you’re making training dependent on your brain’s emotional state randomly aligning with your goals. That’s not a performance system. That’s hope.
Here’s the actual equation that builds consistency:
Values → Action → Results → (sometimes) Motivation
Action comes first. Motivation sometimes follows. But action doesn’t depend on feeling motivated.
Values are the things that matter to you independent of how you feel in the moment.
You value being a reliable teammate. You value discipline. You value pushing your limits. You value being part of something bigger than yourself. You value proving something to yourself.
These values don’t change when you’re tired. They don’t disappear when you don’t feel motivated. They exist independently of your current emotional state.
Values-based action means: “I don’t feel motivated today AND I value discipline, so I’m going to show up anyway.”
Not – “I don’t feel motivated, so I’m going to try to get motivated first.”
Not – “I don’t feel motivated, so clearly I should skip practice.”
The feeling and the action are decoupled.
Your alarm goes off. You don’t feel motivated.
Old pattern: “I don’t feel like going. Maybe I should skip today. I’ll train better tomorrow when I’m more motivated.”
New pattern: “I notice I don’t feel motivated right now. That’s just a feeling. I value being consistent with my training. The action doesn’t require the feeling. I’m getting up.”
You’re not arguing with the lack of motivation. You’re not trying to change it. You’re acknowledging it exists and acting anyway.
This is the skill. Not eliminating the “I don’t feel like it” experience. Acting despite it.
Here’s the exact structure to use when motivation drops out:
“I value discipline” or “I value being a reliable teammate” or “I value pushing my limits”
“I will go to practice and complete the warm-up” or “I will get on the erg and row the programmed piece”
“I don’t feel like it today” or “I feel tired and unmotivated”
“I can have this feeling AND honor my value”
Say this out loud. Actually speak it. There’s neurological power in verbal commitment that thinking doesn’t create.
“I don’t feel motivated today AND I value being a reliable teammate, so I’m going to show up and complete the warm-up.”
Then do exactly that. Show up. Complete the warm-up. Reassess from there.
On days when resistance is particularly strong, commit to 10 minutes only.
“I’m going to show up, complete the warm-up, and row for 10 minutes. Then I’ll reassess.”
What you’ll discover: resistance is almost always to starting, not to doing.
Once you’re at practice, once you’re on the erg, once you’ve started the first interval, continuing feels significantly easier than the dread of starting felt.
Your Racing Brain generates catastrophic predictions about how terrible the session will be. Those predictions are usually wildly inaccurate. But you only learn that by starting anyway.
After you complete the 10 minutes and realize it wasn’t as catastrophic as predicted, your Racing Brain gets new data. Over repeated exposures, the pre-practice dread reduces because the predictions stop matching reality.
You’re not “disciplined” or “undisciplined” as fixed character traits. Discipline is a trained behavior pattern.
Current pattern: “Don’t feel like it → don’t do it”
Retrained pattern: “Don’t feel like it → do it anyway → survive → Racing Brain gets new data”
After enough repetitions, showing up despite not feeling motivated becomes more automatic. Not because you’ve eliminated the feeling. Because you’ve trained a competing behavioral pattern that outcompetes the avoidance response.
Your Racing Brain learns: “We predict this will be terrible. We act anyway. Outcome is usually fine. Prediction accuracy is low. Reduce alarm intensity next time.”
This is the same recalibration mechanism that works for pain tolerance. Applied to motivation.
Don’t track whether you felt motivated. That’s not the relevant variable.
Track whether you acted from your values despite how you felt.
Good evidence log entry: “Motivation 3/10. Showed up anyway because I value consistency. Completed full session. Racing Brain predicted it would be miserable. Actual experience was fine.”
What this teaches your Racing Brain: “Low motivation doesn’t reliably predict poor training. The prediction is miscalibrated.”
After 4-6 weeks of this pattern, you’ll notice: the resistance to starting reduces. Not because you magically feel more motivated. Because your automatic brain stops generating catastrophic predictions about training when motivation is low.
A rowing season is 8-10 months. You will NOT be motivated for all of it.
The athletes who improve most aren’t the most talented. They’re not the ones who feel motivated most often. They’re the most consistent.
Consistency doesn’t require motivation. It requires values-based action and behavioral systems that make showing up the default.
You’re building a pattern where training happens regardless of emotional state. That’s the competitive advantage.
Before your next practice, complete this exercise:
Write down one value that rowing connects to for you. Not someone else’s value. Yours. What actually matters to you about this?
Examples:
Next time you don’t feel motivated, say this out loud:
“I don’t feel motivated today AND I value [your value], so I’m going to [specific action].”
Then take that specific action. Show up. Complete the warm-up. Start the first interval.
Document in your evidence log: “Motivation level: X/10. Acted from values anyway. Completed: Y.”
Do this for two weeks. Notice what happens to the resistance over time. Notice how often you can act effectively despite low motivation.
The skill you’re building isn’t feeling motivated. The skill is acting from values regardless of feelings. That’s what separates athletes who peak once from athletes who sustain performance over seasons.
Want more support?
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