Ahh, New Year. A time for rebirth, new ideals and resolutions. January has a certain freshness and energy to it. All the gyms are busy – if not rammed to gills with enthusiastic faces looking to kick things off the right way. Trainers are new and those new leggings? Well, we’ll look to fit in those soon. Motivation is high and “This is the year,” we tell ourselves. Great start, you go, you.
And then…February turns up.
Life gets noisy. Work ramps up as the world gets back into its stride. The weather is still, if not more miserable. That initial buzz as faded as reality has taken hold about just how hard this all is, and suddenly the goals that felt so important a few weeks ago feels like an optional extra.
If that sounds familiar, good news: you’re not broken. Nope, you’re just human.
At Motion Labs, we don’t build results on hype. We build them on consistency…and there’s a big difference. We’ll explain how.
Enthusiasm vs Consistency (They Are Not the Same Thing)
Enthusiasm is emotional and says: “I’ll train five times a week and make it happen!” Whereas consistency on the other hand is behavioural and says: “Let’s keep things going - I’ll train three times a week, every week.”
One feels exciting. The other doesn’t so much, but – and it’s a big but – it actually works.
Most people don’t fail because they lack motivation. They fail because they set goals that rely on motivation staying high, which, unless you’re one of those rarities that are always motivated, it never does.
The Motion Labs Five Steps to Being Great in 2026
Step 1: Set Boring Goals (no, seriously)
The most effective goals aren’t dramatic – they’re repeatable. And that’s what makes them achievable.
So, instead of: “I want to get really fit and in shape this year” which is about as generic as you can get, try something more focused, such as:
- I’ll train 3 x per week for the next 12 weeks
- I’ll make sure I hit 8,000 steps per day on average
- I’ll prioritise protein at every meal
- I’ll sleep for 7+ hours where possible
Boring? Yes. Effective? It can be very. Why? Because it has a focus and a destination to it; results are just the side effect of these habits done consistently.
Step 2: Shrink the Time Horizon
A full year is way too abstract – a LOT can happen in a year. Your brain can’t grip it, so break it down into more realistic, bite-sized chunks. As the saying goes, ‘you can’t eat the elephant all at once’.
So, think instead more like this:
- 2-week blocks
- 4-week blocks
- 8–12-week phases
And ask yourself stuff like: “What can I do consistently for the next two weeks?”
Ultimately, momentum is built in short, successful runs, not long, perfect plans. By all means have a longer-term goal, but break it down, stagger it out and look at progress points. No one climbs Everest in one go…it’s worked out with stages, camps and adaptations and evolutions as the terrain, weather and such changes with different goals for each stage. The ultimate goal doesn’t change, but the journey will.
Step 3: Identity > Outcome
Here’s a subtle shift that makes a big difference. Instead of focusing on what you want to achieve, focus on who you’re becoming, i.e.: not: “I want to lose 10kg”, but: “I’m someone who trains regularly and looks after their body.”
When training becomes “just something I do”, not a daily decision, it’s part of your routine; the consistency gets much easier.
Step 4: Use Visualisation (Without Going Weird)
Visualisation isn’t about manifesting or staring at vision boards for hours. It’s about practical thought and application
Try this: before a session, picture yourself arriving, warming up, and finishing. Picture the after feeling – not the actual workout itself. That glow of achievement and completion. What you’re doing is rehearsing the behaviour, not chasing the motivation.
This is especially useful on days when enthusiasm is low (which will happen). But, do this and workout and the smug, self-satisfying feeling you’ll have will be epic. Remember, you might not want to workout, but no one ever regretted a workout.
Step 5: Lower the Bar on Bad Days
Consistency isn’t about smashing every session – no one has perfect workouts, every time. Really, it’s about showing up when conditions aren’t perfect.
So, have rules like:
- “Not feeling it today, I’ll just start and see what happens.”
- “Ten minutes counts.”
- “Just complete this set and then I can stop”
Remember, something is always better than nothing. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve walked into a gym, done a warmup, maybe even a set or two and then simply said ‘Bugger this, it’s not happening today, I’m off’. So, you’ve had a bad one; shake it off and go again tomorrow. Key is to not let that bad workout run into a bad day of eating, thinking ‘well sod it, I might as well go to the pub’ and so forth.
Most of the time, starting is enough to keep going. And if it isn’t? You still win for maintaining the habit.
The Motion Labs Approach
At Motion Labs, we don’t look to chase short-term motivation spikes; instead, we build systems that work when life is busy, stressful, and imperfect. Because our lives are just as busy, stressful and imperfect as yours are. (That’s also why we don’t post unachievable we’re-always-amazing shit on social either – we’re a bit more grounded than that!)
That’s how results stick, how confidence grows, and how 2026 becomes different – not louder.
And remember, none of it’s set in stone; it should evolve and change as life does and goals are achieved (or not as the case may be). Did you reached that milestone? Great – now what’s next? You didn’t? OK, so how do you tackle it now? To quote the SAS: ‘Improvise. Adapt. Overcome’.
Final Thought
You don’t need a new version of yourself this year; you just need to be a little more consistent than last year. And lots of littles? Well, they equal a lot.
Need help building a plan that fits your life, schedule, and goals? We might know someone who can help with that…
