When motivation fades (and why that is normal)

By mid-January, something often shifts.

The New Year’s resolutions are fast becoming a distant memory, and that fresh-start energy has faded.

The excitement has softened.

Running suddenly feels harder than it did a couple of weeks ago.

And that can be unsettling.

You might start to wonder:

• What’s wrong with me?

• Why don’t I feel as motivated anymore?

• Have I already failed?

But this moment — right here — is completely normal.

Motivation is not a steady thing.
It comes and goes.
It rises with novelty and dips with routine.

That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong.

In fact, this is often the point where running becomes real.

This is where habits begin to matter more than feelings.

Where turning up counts more than enthusiasm.

Where consistency stops looking exciting and starts looking ordinary.

And ordinary is where progress lives.

Some days, motivation will carry you out the door.

Other days, you’ll go anyway — not because you’re driven, but because you’ve learned to keep things simple.

That might mean:

• Shortening the run

• Slowing the pace

• Deciding that “done” is better than “perfect”

You don’t need to feel inspired to keep going.

You just need a plan that doesn’t rely on inspiration.

At BraveKind, I don’t wait for motivation to appear.

I help runners build routines that still work when it doesn’t.

Because the runners who keep going aren’t the most motivated ones — they’re the ones who are kind enough to themselves to keep it manageable.

So if motivation feels low right now, let this be reassurance:

You haven’t failed.

You haven’t lost your way.

You’re building habits.

And that’s where real change happens.

— Tim