Feeling Lazy or Unmotivated? (Do THIS 5-Minute Rule to Build Discipline & Take Action NOW!)

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

iHeartPodcasts

Health & Fitness, Business, Mental Health

4.8 • 28.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What’s one small step you can take right now to break the cycle you’re stuck in?

Today, Jay shares a simple, science-backed method to help you overcome laziness, distraction, and burnout by focusing on consistency instead of motivation. Rather than waiting for the perfect moment or a burst of inspiration, Jay explains how lowering the bar, creating rituals, and going on a dopamine detox can help you rebuild discipline and self-trust, one small action at a time.

It’s not about working harder or chasing perfection, but about starting smaller and showing up consistently. Jay explains how to protect your focus, rewire your reward system, and break the patterns that keep you stuck. Over time, these tiny shifts compound into real transformation, helping you feel more grounded, confident, and in control.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How to Start When You Feel Stuck

How to Build Rituals That Replace Willpower

How to Break Free from the Dopamine Addiction Cycle

How to Embrace Boredom and Reclaim Focus

How to End Each Day with Progress, Not Pressure

Change doesn’t come from motivation. It comes from momentum. When you choose to start small, stay consistent, and keep your promises to yourself, discipline becomes second nature.

With Love and Gratitude,

Jay Shetty.

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What We Discuss:

00:00 Introduction

0:57 Lower Your Expectations

05:36 Build A Ritual, Not A Routine

07:42 24 Hour Dopamine Detox

10:58 Make Bad Habits Hard To Do

13:13 Be Bored For 10 Minutes A Day

15:10 Reward Effort, Not Results

17:24 Turn Your Phone Off For 60 Minutes

18:14 You Can Do Anything for 5 Minutes!

21:15 End Your Day With the 3 Minute Review

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an IHeart podcast. I was lost, lazy and unmotivated until I did this.
0:09.9	What I'm about to share with you today is a step-by-step formula for how to not be lazy,
0:16.7	to find motivation, to discover discipline and actually make a shift in your life. Now, if you don't,
0:24.5	you can often get into the spiral of feeling like you're ruining everything. Let me break it down for you.
0:30.8	I'd wake up tired, scroll for hours, lie to myself about tomorrow, and still wonder why nothing in my life was changing.
0:39.4	I wasn't broken, but I felt like I was wasting my potential every single day.
0:45.4	The truth is, I almost let it all slip away.
0:49.3	My purpose, my drive, the people I love.
0:52.5	What I'm about to share with you pulled me out of that spiral.
0:56.3	And if any part of this sounds like you, you need to hear it. Step number one, lower the bar.
1:03.1	Way lower. The hardest part isn't doing the thing. It's starting the thing. Set the smallest
1:10.6	possible action step. so small it feels ridiculous
1:14.5	not to do it. Now, why should you lower the bar? Everyone's always telling you to achieve more,
1:19.9	to think bigger, to do more. Why is Jay telling me to lower the bar? Well, here's the truth.
1:26.3	We don't fail because we're not capable. We fail because
1:30.5	we set the bar so high we never get started. We imagine we need a perfect plan, a perfect morning
1:37.6	routine, a perfect burst of motivation. But perfection kills momentum. And momentum, not motivation, is what actually changes your life.
1:48.7	Now here's the psychology behind it. It's something known as the activation barrier.
1:54.8	Behavioral science shows that the hardest part of any task isn't doing it, it's starting it. That first moment takes the most
2:03.7	mental energy. So when you lower the bar, when you make the first step laughably easy,
2:11.2	you bypass resistance. Don't work out for an hour. Just put on your shoes. Don't write 10 pages. Just open the document.
2:22.5	Don't eat healthy forever. Just drink one glass of water. Once you're moving, your dopamine system kicks in.
	...

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