Motivation from Taylor Swift

Motivation from Taylor Swift

For this week’s Motivation Monday we turn to Time’s person of the year, Taylor Swift. Whether you like Taylor’s music or not, the drive, discipline and work ethic displayed by the self made billionaire can serve as motivation to all of us.

Taylor’s performances during her recent Eras Tour are dazzling sold out stadiums across five continents. It is already the highest-grossing tour of all time. To audiences, Taylor makes the show look effortless. In reality, the performances are a culmination of a lifetime of dedication to her craft and an intense 180 days of preparation.

Beginning six months in advance of the tour’s first show, Taylor embraced a daily grind and devoted hours everyday to get in shape with a special workout program. This positioned the 33-year-old to create the greatest musical tour of all time.

“Every day I would run on the treadmill, singing the entire set list out loud,” Swift told Time. “Fast for fast songs, and a jog or a fast walk for slow songs.” The entire set list lasts more than three hours! As if a daily three hours on a treadmill wasn’t enough of a workout, Swift worked with Dogpound on a cross-training program to incorporate weights, strength, and conditioning. She also kicked off extra dance practices three months before her first Eras Tour performance.

Not only did Taylor take her fitness seriously, she stopped drinking and embraced a healthy lifestyle so that she could be at the top of her game for her fans. Taylor described the tour as being harder than anything she had ever done before by a long shot. So she finally, for the very first time, physically prepared correctly.

How can Time’s person of the year motivate us?

1. We must push ourselves. If The Eras Tour never happened, nobody would have faulted Taylor. Prior to the tour, she was a musical icon who had more money than she could spend in a lifetime. However, she didn’t get complacent or wait for someone to tell her to create the highest grossing tour of all time. Instead she took initiative to raise the bar on herself and created a daily process to help her succeed in doing something that had not been done before.

2. Running helps us accomplish more than just Personal Records. Taylor’s a singer-songwriter. Nobody thinks of her as a runner yet she runs everyday. Her three hour treadmill workouts are not in pursuit of a faster 5K time but to give her the endurance to deliver awesome musical performances. Similar to Taylor, we should think about how running can help us accomplish goals in other areas of life. Chances are that what we achieve outside of running will be more impactful to others and motivate us to continue running.

3. Make it fun. Similar to the motivation from Charlie Munger, we can learn to make exercise fun. Charlie avoided exercise unless it was a fun activity like playing tennis. Taylor spends her 3+ treadmill hours singing. Next time you’re considering skipping a workout, think of a way to make it fun, like singing on the treadmill. Take your mind off the discomfort of the exercise and give it something else to focus on.