When the weather grows colder – it gets harder and harder to leave the warm comfort of our soft beds. That’s why we can’t count on motivation during the winter months – we can only depend on our systems. That’s how we emerge in spring ripped and jacked. Let’s get into this…
Every December, the same thing happens…
Motivation disappears. Energy drops. Routines get sloppy.
People start telling themselves the most dangerous sentence in fitness: “I’ll get serious in the New Year – it all begins January 1st.”
But, here’s the uncomfortable truth…
Motivation was never the thing carrying you anyway.
Motivation is seasonal. It spikes when life is easy and vanishes when it’s cold, busy, stressful and inconvenient. December exposes that lie better than any other month of the year.
What actually keeps progress alive isn’t hype, emotion, or inspiration…
It’s systems.
Motivation Is A Lie – Systems Win In December
Motivation thrives on novelty and excitement and December offers neither.
Shorter days. Poor sleep. More stress. More food. Less structure.
Your nervous system is taxed. Cortisol is higher. Willpower is lower. That’s not weakness – that’s biology…
And when you rely on motivation to drive your behavior – biology always wins.
This is why people don’t lose progress in December – they abandon the behaviors that created it. Training becomes optional. Sleep becomes negotiable. Nutrition becomes emotional. Supplements gather dust on the shelf.
Motivation doesn’t help you leave your hibernation cave to get to the gym when your body is telling you to do nothing…
But systems do.
What Systems Actually Look Like (And Why They Work)
Bottom line: a system removes decision-making.
No debate. No hype. No waiting to “feel ready.”
You don’t ask if you’ll train – you figure out when.
There’s no “deciding” whether you’ll recover – you follow the routine.
You don’t wait till you have the energy to train – you just get in the car and go.
Systems win in December because they’re boring, repetitive and most importantly – automatic.
They function even when you’re tired, distracted or unmotivated. In fact, the work ESPECIALLY when you’re not 100%.
This is where consistency compounds quietly while everyone else waits for January.
December Is the Real Separation Phase
Most people think January is the starting line. It isn’t.
January is where the HERD shows up.
December is where momentum is either protected or surrendered.
The people who look different by spring didn’t “flip a switch” on January 1st – they kept their systems intact when it was inconvenient.
Training scaled – it didn’t stop.
Nutrition tightened – it wasn’t abandoned.
Sleep and recovery became priorities – not afterthoughts.
That’s not motivation…
That’s discipline by design.
“You Do Not Rise to the Level of Your Goals. You Fall to the Level of Your Systems.”
That line comes from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, and it hits hardest in December.
Goals don’t carry you through hard seasons. Systems do.
If your progress depends on how you feel – it won’t survive winter.
If it depends on what you do automatically – it will.
“Discipline equals freedom.” – Jocko Willink
Editor’s Note: Look, December doesn’t require perfection – it requires structure. This is the month to simplify – not overhaul. Lock in the habits that support recovery, performance and consistency when motivation is gone. And while you’re at it – you should lock in the supplements that will support recovery, performance and consistency too. Your supplement regiment is a system too! Don’t wait for January to start acting like the person you want to be. Build the system now – and let everyone else play catch-up later. Grab your favorite Nutrex products today!
