I used to have problems with the word 'motivation', I used to need so much driving force to start any task. Now I don't, as I've internalised the fact that motivation is a myth.
According to the "conventional definition" or should I say conventional mindset of people, the definition of motivation is "the desire or the driving force to do something". On the other hand, it should be the discipline that should drive you to do something, to make you started with that pending assignment or with that pending course that you were supposed to complete last month.
Motivation is not the driving force for anything. It is the result of the hard work put into it, it is the result of the success, of the outcome of that task. You can not always feel motivated at the beginning of the task, but you can feel motivated at the end of it.
Also, it is temporary. It can come and go. This moment you're highly motivated and while scrolling social media, you saw your best friend having fun in Maldives and all your motivation is now gone. It is the discipline that can take you places and can help you achieve your goal.
Discipline is integrated in you if you have practiced it enough. If it is a one time thing, then being motivated might help you. But it is a task that you have to do every single day, then motivation can not help you enough. It is the discipline that comes in handy. Practice discipline and you are good to go.
When you try to start anything new, you start looking for motivation (that drive to do that thing) to perform that task. But in these kind of scenarios, motivation is nothing but the joy of something new happening, or the excitement of it.
When I say that motivation is a myth, I don't mean that it is not necessary. I mean that it is not something that you can get everyday, it is not something that can take you places, it is not something that can single handedly help you achieve your goals.
The next time you feel motivated, dig a bit deeper and try to figure out exactly what is that thing that is making you feel motivated. Is it the excitement of something new you're going to try, or is it something that you're passionate about. Measure the frequency of you being motivated to do the same thing every other day.
Motivation is the result of success. When you feel successful in something, then you feel motivated to do that thing because you can see the results coming, you can feel that you're good at it. The hard part of starting something is already over. What is difficult is to continue doing something even when you're not getting anything out of it. It can be happiness, success, money, anything.
Discipline can help you overcome this difficult phase of any process. If you're disciplined enough to perform your tasks, then you'll eventually reach that phase where you'll feel motivated automatically.
Expecting motivation prior doing anything, prior putting efforts is a waste of time and energy both.
Let's take the example of writing this blog post. If I would've thought of writing a perfect post and then only publishing it, then it would've taken me forever to write it, and would never have been satisfied enough to publish it. But, just to get that push that I've actually published something and now let's work on the next one, I'll be able to improve my writing skills and get things done. Because someone has said it right, that in the beginning, quantity is more important than quality.