Why Your Metabolism Controls Your Motivation (The Science Behind Energy, Discipline & Taking Action)

0:00 SPEAKER_00: On the Powers That Be podcast, we examine the players and currents behind today's most consequential decisions.

0:06 SPEAKER_00: Join us, listen to the Powers That Be wherever you get your podcasts.

0:18 SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Warriors Haven Podcast, the place where discipline meets purpose and everyday people become unstoppable.

0:26 SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Jaisha Sutherland, a retired Army drill sergeant, single mom, and the founder of the Warriors Haven.

0:34 SPEAKER_00: Around here, we talk fitness, mindset, and the mission of building a stronger you, mentally, physically, and financially.

0:43 SPEAKER_00: Because this isn't just about the gym.

0:46 SPEAKER_00: It's about life, leadership, and living on your terms.

0:50 SPEAKER_00: So gear up, lock in, and let's step into the haven where warriors are made.

1:19 SPEAKER_00: And today I want to talk to you about something most people I don't think have ever connected before.

1:27 SPEAKER_00: And something I don't really hear much conversation about.

1:32 SPEAKER_00: And that is motivation and metabolism.

1:37 SPEAKER_00: And I get it, I know.

1:39 SPEAKER_00: At first, those two things sound completely unrelated.

1:43 SPEAKER_00: One sounds like psychology, the other sounds like biology.

1:48 SPEAKER_00: One sounds like mindset, the other sounds like nutrition.

1:54 SPEAKER_00: But what if they're actually connected?

1:57 SPEAKER_00: What if the reason you struggle to stay motivated isn't because you're lazy?

2:03 SPEAKER_00: What if it's not because you're weak?

2:06 SPEAKER_00: What if it's not because you lack discipline?

2:09 SPEAKER_00: What if your body is simply running low on energy?

2:16 SPEAKER_00: Well, today I want to challenge one of the biggest lies in personal development, and that is the idea that motivation comes first.

2:30 SPEAKER_00: I don't believe it does.

2:32 SPEAKER_00: In fact, the longer I study performance, psychology, biology, and human behavior, the more convinced I become that motivation is often the result of energy, not the cause of it.

2:48 SPEAKER_00: Think about it.

2:50 SPEAKER_00: When you feel energized, everything feels easier.

2:54 SPEAKER_00: You want to work out, you want to clean the house, you want to work on your goals, you want to show up, you want to take action.

3:03 SPEAKER_00: But in the contrary, when you're exhausted, even simple tasks feel overwhelming.

3:12 SPEAKER_00: You're still the same person with the same goals, the same dreams, the same life.

3:19 SPEAKER_00: The only thing that changed was your energy.

3:24 SPEAKER_00: And when your energy changes, your motivation changes too.

3:30 SPEAKER_00: So today I want to show you what's happening behind the scenes inside our body and why understanding your metabolism may completely change how you think about motivation forever.

3:44 SPEAKER_00: Stay with me on this one.

3:46 SPEAKER_00: I think it's gonna be a really fun episode.

3:51 SPEAKER_00: So, friend, can I be honest?

3:54 SPEAKER_00: I do love picking on motivation.

3:58 SPEAKER_00: Because motivation gets way too much attention.

4:01 SPEAKER_00: People talk about motivation like it's some magical force that suddenly appears one day.

4:07 SPEAKER_00: They say things like, I'm just waiting to feel motivated.

4:11 SPEAKER_00: I'll start Monday.

4:13 SPEAKER_00: I need more motivation.

4:15 SPEAKER_00: No, you need more energy because motivation is unreliable.

4:21 SPEAKER_00: It comes and goes.

4:24 SPEAKER_00: Some days it's there and some days it's not.

4:29 SPEAKER_00: And if you're waiting on motivation before taking action, you're handing control of your life over to your emotions.

4:38 SPEAKER_00: That's why here at the Warriors Haven, we don't build our lives around motivation.

4:44 SPEAKER_00: We build them around energy and discipline.

4:48 SPEAKER_00: Because energy creates action.

4:51 SPEAKER_00: Action creates confidence.

4:54 SPEAKER_00: Confidence creates discipline.

4:57 SPEAKER_00: And discipline creates identity.

5:00 SPEAKER_00: But before we get into discipline, we need to understand energy because everything starts there.

5:09 SPEAKER_00: So I want you to imagine that every single thing you do costs money.

5:17 SPEAKER_00: Stay with me on this one, okay?

5:21 SPEAKER_00: Getting out of bed costs money.

5:25 SPEAKER_00: Walking costs money.

5:28 SPEAKER_00: Thinking costs money.

5:31 SPEAKER_00: Reading costs money.

5:34 SPEAKER_00: Working out costs money.

5:37 SPEAKER_00: Building a business costs money.

5:41 SPEAKER_00: Even listening to this episode right now costs money.

5:46 SPEAKER_00: And you're probably thinking, yeah, Jay, all those things you mentioned costs money.

5:52 SPEAKER_00: But I'm not talking about actual dollars.

5:56 SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about energy dollars.

5:59 SPEAKER_00: See, scientists call these energy dollars ATP.

6:05 SPEAKER_00: ATP is the energy your body uses to do work.

6:12 SPEAKER_00: Every heartbeat, every breath, every thought, every movement, everything requires ATP.

6:21 SPEAKER_00: Now don't get caught up in the big scientific name.

6:25 SPEAKER_00: Just remember this.

6:26 SPEAKER_00: ATP is energy.

6:30 SPEAKER_00: Think of ATP like a fully loaded gift card.

6:36 SPEAKER_00: When your body needs to do something, it spends some of that energy, some of that gift card.

6:44 SPEAKER_00: The moment that happens, ATP changes into something called a DP.

6:53 SPEAKER_00: Now here's the simple version.

6:56 SPEAKER_00: A TP is the charged battery.

7:01 SPEAKER_00: A DP is the battery after some power has been used.

7:08 SPEAKER_00: A TP is full.

7:11 SPEAKER_00: A DP needs recharging.

7:16 SPEAKER_00: That's it.

7:18 SPEAKER_00: And this is where metabolism becomes incredibly important because your metabolism is the charging station.

7:29 SPEAKER_00: Every time you eat nutritious food, every time you breathe oxygen, every time you sleep, every time you move your body, your metabolism takes those resources and recharges a DP back into a TP.

7:50 SPEAKER_00: It's constantly restoring your energy supply.

7:54 SPEAKER_00: Think about charging your phone overnight.

7:57 SPEAKER_00: When you wake up, the battery is full again.

8:00 SPEAKER_00: Your body is doing that every second of every day.

8:05 SPEAKER_00: Scientists estimate that the average person recycles their entire body weight in ATP every single day.

8:17 SPEAKER_00: That's how much energy your body is constantly producing and reusing.

8:25 SPEAKER_00: Spend, recharge.

8:29 SPEAKER_00: Spend, recharge.

8:33 SPEAKER_00: Spend, recharge.

8:36 SPEAKER_00: It's happening right now as you listen to me.

8:40 SPEAKER_00: And if your body's ability to recharge ATP becomes less efficient, your energy starts dropping.

8:50 SPEAKER_00: And when energy drops, motivation often follows.

9:01 SPEAKER_00: Your brain only makes up about two percent of your body weight, yet it uses roughly twenty percent of your body's energy.

9:12 SPEAKER_00: Think about that.

9:14 SPEAKER_00: One fifth of your energy goes to your brain.

9:18 SPEAKER_00: Your brain is expensive, friend.

9:22 SPEAKER_00: And because it uses so much energy, it constantly monitors how much fuel is available.

9:31 SPEAKER_00: Researchers like Dr.

9:32 SPEAKER_00: Andrew Hubberman often explain that your brain is continuously accessing energy, its availability, before deciding how much effort it's willing to spend.

9:45 SPEAKER_00: In other words, your brain is constantly asking, do we have enough energy for this?

9:53 SPEAKER_00: If the answer is yes, you feel focused, driven, optimistic, even motivated.

10:00 SPEAKER_00: If the answer is no, your brain starts conserving energy.

10:06 SPEAKER_00: So let's go back to our phones.

10:08 SPEAKER_00: Let's think about it.

10:09 SPEAKER_00: When the battery gets low, what happens?

10:13 SPEAKER_00: The screen dims, performance slows down, certain functions shut off, your body does something very similar.

10:23 SPEAKER_00: When energy becomes limited, your brain begins conserving resources.

10:29 SPEAKER_00: It starts reducing expensive activities like focus, decision making, self-control, memory, emotional regulation, problem solving, long-term planning.

10:44 SPEAKER_00: And what's fascinating is that most people call this a lack of motivation.

10:51 SPEAKER_00: Scientists call it energy conservation.

10:54 SPEAKER_00: Your brain isn't trying to sabotage you, it's trying to protect you.

10:59 SPEAKER_00: Thousands of years ago, conserving energy helped humans survive.

11:04 SPEAKER_00: Today, it often looks like procrastination, scrolling social media, avoiding difficult tasks, skipping workouts, putting off goals.

11:15 SPEAKER_00: The behavior isn't always a character flaw.

11:19 SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's biology.

11:24 SPEAKER_00: So now, friend, let's talk about another favorite subject of mine, and that's dopamine.

11:29 SPEAKER_00: Most people call dopamine the happiness chemical, and that's not exactly true.

11:34 SPEAKER_00: Dopamine is more accurately described as a motivation and pursuit chemical.

11:40 SPEAKER_00: It's what creates drive, it's what helps you chase goals, it's what makes effort feel worthwhile.

11:49 SPEAKER_00: Here's what many people don't realize.

11:52 SPEAKER_00: Healthy dopamine function requires energy.

11:57 SPEAKER_00: Everything in your brain requires energy.

12:01 SPEAKER_00: When ATP production slows down, dopamine signaling can suffer.

12:07 SPEAKER_00: And when dopamine signaling suffers, everything starts feeling harder.

12:13 SPEAKER_00: Not impossible, just harder.

12:16 SPEAKER_00: The workout feels harder.

12:18 SPEAKER_00: The business task feels harder.

12:21 SPEAKER_00: The difficult conversation feels harder.

12:24 SPEAKER_00: The healthy meal feels harder.

12:26 SPEAKER_00: The goal suddenly feels farther away.

12:30 SPEAKER_00: Not because you've become lazy, because your batteries are running low.

12:36 SPEAKER_00: So, friend, let's connect the dots.

12:39 SPEAKER_00: Millions of adults today are sleep deprived.

12:42 SPEAKER_00: Many are actually really sitting still.

12:46 SPEAKER_00: Many are chronically stressed.

12:48 SPEAKER_00: Many consume highly processed foods, many spend most of their day indoors, and all of those things impact metabolism.

12:59 SPEAKER_00: All of those things impact ATP production.

13:03 SPEAKER_00: All of those things impact energy, which means all of those things impact motivation.

13:12 SPEAKER_00: So when someone says, I just don't feel motivated anymore, I often wonder if they're asking the wrong question.

13:21 SPEAKER_00: Maybe the better question is, what is draining my energy?

13:28 SPEAKER_00: Because motivation may simply be the symptom.

13:32 SPEAKER_00: Energy may be the root cause.

13:38 SPEAKER_00: So let's talk about three things that you can maybe start doing today.

13:44 SPEAKER_00: And let's make it practical.

13:47 SPEAKER_00: For the first one.

13:50 SPEAKER_00: Eat protein earlier in the day.

13:55 SPEAKER_00: Protein provides the building blocks your brain uses to create important neurotransmitters.

14:03 SPEAKER_00: Aim for twenty five to forty grams of protein just within the first few hours of waking up.

14:09 SPEAKER_00: Stable fuel leads to stable energy.

14:13 SPEAKER_00: Stable energy leads to better focus and performance.

14:21 SPEAKER_00: Number two, take a 10-minute walk after meals.

14:27 SPEAKER_00: This sounds almost too simple, but research shows walking after meals helps support healthy blood sugar levels.

14:36 SPEAKER_00: More stable blood sugar often means more stable energy.

14:41 SPEAKER_00: More stable energy means your brain has a steadier fuel supply.

14:47 SPEAKER_00: And that means fewer crashes later in the day.

14:52 SPEAKER_00: You know the one I'm talking about.

14:53 SPEAKER_00: That 2 p.m.

14:54 SPEAKER_00: crash we constantly say and feel.

14:56 SPEAKER_00: That one.

14:58 SPEAKER_00: And number three, get morning sunlight before that phone light, before social media, before email, before the chaos.

15:10 SPEAKER_00: Just step outside.

15:12 SPEAKER_00: Five to ten minutes.

15:14 SPEAKER_00: Natural sunlight helps regulate your body's internal clock, improve alertness, and support better sleep later that night.

15:25 SPEAKER_00: It's one of the simplest and most powerful habits you can build.

15:34 SPEAKER_00: So, friend, let me leave you with this.

15:37 SPEAKER_00: You are not lazy, you are not broken, and chances are you are not suffering from a motivation problem.

15:46 SPEAKER_00: You're dealing with a body and a brain that are constantly trying to manage energy.

15:52 SPEAKER_00: And once you understand that, everything changes because now you're no longer fighting yourself, you're working with your biology.

16:03 SPEAKER_00: You stop waking up asking, what's wrong with me?

16:07 SPEAKER_00: And you start asking, how can I create more energy today?

16:14 SPEAKER_00: Because energy creates action.

16:17 SPEAKER_00: Action creates confidence.

16:20 SPEAKER_00: Confidence creates discipline.

16:23 SPEAKER_00: And discipline creates identity.

16:27 SPEAKER_00: That's why here at the Warriors Haven, we don't chase motivation.

16:34 SPEAKER_00: Motivation is emotional.

16:37 SPEAKER_00: Motivation comes and goes.

16:40 SPEAKER_00: We focus on energy and discipline.

16:45 SPEAKER_00: Because when your energy improves, discipline becomes easier.

16:50 SPEAKER_00: And when discipline becomes easier, your life starts changing.

16:56 SPEAKER_00: One choice at a time, one habit at a time, one day at a time.

17:06 SPEAKER_00: So I want you to pick just one thing from today's episode.

17:10 SPEAKER_00: Not all three, just one.

17:13 SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's eating more protein in the morning.

17:17 SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's taking a walk after lunch.

17:20 SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's getting sunlight before touching your phone.

17:25 SPEAKER_00: Pick one, master it, then build from there.

17:30 SPEAKER_00: Because transformation doesn't happen because of one giant decision.

17:35 SPEAKER_00: Transformation happens because of hundreds of small decisions that align with the person you're becoming.

17:45 SPEAKER_00: If today's episode helped you see motivation differently, I'd love to invite you into the Warriors Haven community.

17:53 SPEAKER_00: It's inside our school community.

17:56 SPEAKER_00: I share daily tips, strategies, and practical lessons on energy, discipline, fitness, mindset, and rebuilding your identity.

18:06 SPEAKER_00: No fake motivation, no fluff, no highlight reels, just real-world tools to help you become stronger mentally, physically, and emotionally.

18:19 SPEAKER_00: The link will be in the show notes.

18:23 SPEAKER_00: So I hope you come join us.

18:25 SPEAKER_00: And before we wrap up, I want to share something exciting as well.

18:31 SPEAKER_00: Many of you know me as your favorite drill sergeant, but this year I'm stepping into another role.

18:38 SPEAKER_00: The role of being an author.

18:41 SPEAKER_00: My first book, The Warrior's Haven Edge, is scheduled to launch at the end of this year.

18:46 SPEAKER_00: This book is the accumulation of everything I've learned through my military service, rebuilding my life after adversity, entrepreneurship, energy management, discipline, and identity transformation.

19:02 SPEAKER_00: It's not a book about being perfect.

19:04 SPEAKER_00: It's a book about learning how to rebuild when life knocks you down.

19:09 SPEAKER_00: It's about becoming the person you're capable of becoming.

19:14 SPEAKER_00: And if today's episode resonated with you, I think you're going to love what's inside those pages.

19:20 SPEAKER_00: We're putting together a special wait list where you'll get behind-the-scenes updates, exclusive insights, early announcements, bonus content, and access to information before the official launch.

19:32 SPEAKER_00: If you'd like to be one of the first people to know when the Warriors Haven Edge releases, join the wait list.

19:41 SPEAKER_00: And that can be found at the Warriorshavenbook.com.

19:46 SPEAKER_00: I'll also drop the link in the show notes as well.

19:49 SPEAKER_00: I'd be honored to have you on that journey with me.

19:55 SPEAKER_00: And now let me leave you with this.

19:59 SPEAKER_00: Protect your energy, build your discipline, guard your standards.

20:05 SPEAKER_00: And remember this: the goal isn't to become more motivated.

20:10 SPEAKER_00: The goal is to become so energized, so focused, and so disciplined that taking action becomes a part of who you are.

20:20 SPEAKER_00: Because when you change your energy, you change your actions.

20:25 SPEAKER_00: When you change your actions, you change your identity.

20:29 SPEAKER_00: And when you change your identity, you change your life.

20:33 SPEAKER_00: You've been listening to the Warriors Haven podcast.

20:37 SPEAKER_00: And once again, I'm your favorite drill sergeant Jay.

20:42 SPEAKER_00: So until the next episode, and we finish off this series, Built by Discipline.

20:47 SPEAKER_00: We only have just a few more left, friends.

20:50 SPEAKER_00: I want you to stay strong, stay focused, and stay ready.

21:11 SPEAKER_00: Thanks for tuning in to the Warriors Haven podcast, where we turn discipline into freedom and help you build the body, mindset, and lifestyle you deserve.

21:20 SPEAKER_00: If today's episode fired you up or gave you just that little push you needed, don't stop here.

21:25 SPEAKER_00: Head on over to theWarriorsHaven.com where you'll find details on how to jumpstart the next version of you.

21:31 SPEAKER_00: Remember, it's not about being perfect.

21:34 SPEAKER_00: It's about showing up for yourself every single day.

21:37 SPEAKER_00: So until next time, stay strong, stay focused, and stay ready.

21:42 SPEAKER_00: I'm Jaisha Sutherland, and you're listening to the Warriors Haven podcast.