This week on Body Beyond the Scales, I was joined by the incredible Jen (aka The Internal Cosmos), an expert in stress management, nervous system regulation, and emotional resilience.
Jen shared her journey from corporate burnout to a completely transformed life and dropped some absolute gold on motivation, discipline, and creating lasting change.
Here are five of my biggest takeaways from our conversation:
1. Your Motivation Needs to Be Both Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Motivation isn't just about wanting to achieve something (intrinsic motivation). It’s also about avoiding a negative consequence (extrinsic motivation). Both can be powerful, but you need to be crystal clear on what’s driving you.
Are you working towards something because you genuinely want it, or are you trying to avoid something that scares you? A mix of both can be useful, as long as you're honest with yourself about why you're doing it.
Action step: Write down your goal and list both the positive reasons (what you want to gain) and the negative reasons (what you want to avoid) to strengthen your motivation.
2. Discipline Isn’t the Answer—Commitment Is
A lot of people preach that discipline is the key to success, but as Jen pointed out, the word itself is often associated with punishment and restriction. Instead of striving for “discipline,” think about commitment—committing to the version of yourself that you want to become and aligning your daily actions with that identity.
Action step: Ask yourself, Who do I want to be? rather than What do I need to do? Shift your mindset towards committing to that future version of yourself.
3. Create an Echo Chamber for Success
Your environment plays a huge role in keeping you on track. If you're constantly surrounded by things that reinforce your old habits, it will be much harder to stick to your new ones. Jen suggests curating an ‘echo chamber’—whether that’s through who you follow on social media, the people you spend time with, or even the reminders you put around your home.
Action step: Do an audit of your environment. Are the people, content, and habits you engage with daily supporting the future version of you? If not, make some changes.
4. Tracking Your Inputs, Not Just Outcomes, Keeps You Motivated
One of the biggest reasons people lose motivation is because they focus too much on the outcome (e.g., the number on the scale) rather than the actions that will get them there.
Tracking your inputs—such as how many workouts you’ve done, how often you’ve prepped meals, or how many nights you’ve prioritised sleep—gives you tangible proof of progress, even before the results show up.
Action step: Set up a simple tracking system. Whether it’s gold stars on a calendar or logging habits in an app, find a way to celebrate consistency over perfection.
5. Reduce Overstimulation to Regulate Your Nervous System
If you're feeling burnt out and overwhelmed, the answer isn’t to add more (e.g., ice baths, supplements, 45-minute meditation sessions).
It’s about removing unnecessary stimulation. We live in a world of constant noise—screens, caffeine, notifications, endless to-do lists—and our nervous systems are overloaded.
Cutting down on stimulation and making space for stillness is key to getting back to balance.
Action step: Try the 3-2-1 Sleep Rule: no food three hours before bed, no liquids two hours before bed, and no screens one hour before bed. This small change can have a massive impact on your sleep and overall stress levels.
There was so much in this episode that I loved, but these were the biggest takeaways for me. If you’re struggling with motivation or consistency, start by getting clear on your ‘why,’ focusing on commitment over discipline, and making sure your environment is working for you, not against you.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure to listen to the full episode and let me know which takeaway resonated with you the most!
🎧 Listen to the episode HERE
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