I've run 1,300km this year. I didn't train for marathons - just find it meditative. But on cold, dark mornings when I don't want to get outside, I think about Terry Fox.
In 1980, at 21 years old, Terry ran a marathon every single day for 143 days on one artificial leg to raise money for cancer research. He'd wake up at 4 AM and run through snow, rain, and heat. Not because he felt motivated, but because he'd seen kids his age dying of cancer and couldn't forget about them.
The prosthetics in the 1980s weren't designed for running - just walking. This forced Terry into a painful "hop-step." But he discovered that after 20 minutes of running, he'd pass a pain threshold and it became much easier to just keep going.
I've adopted the same approach. When a task feels overwhelming, I commit to just 20 minutes. Almost always, something shifts and I keep going.
On the days when your to-do list seems endless, when you feel behind, when there's no energy left - remember Terry. He showed up every single day, even when it hurt.
Terry ran 5,373 kilometers before cancer forced him to stop. He raised $24M - one dollar for every Canadian.
What keeps you going when motivation runs out?