It’s a cloudy day in Philadelphia, 1976. Rocky Balboa sets his intention to become a champion. “Eye of the Tiger” begins to play, and we see months of punching things and running up steps condensed into a two-minute-long montage.

Zoom in.

It’s Day 91 of the montage.

Rocky Balboa’s alarm clock goes off at the butt-crack of dawn.

“Shit,” he mutters, and rolls out of bed groggily. He eats a breakfast burrito, then drags himself over to the gym and punches some things.

“My legs feel like spaghetti,” he grumbles, but still he works up the motivation to go over to those steps and run up them for the 91st time.

Are you in the middle of a montage?

In real life, setting your intention doesn’t magically condense months of hard work into two minutes. And if you want a soundtrack, you have to create it yourself.

In real life, the middle of a montage can feel like a grind, or a slog, or like you’re running in a hamster wheel.

How to know if you’re in a montage or a hamster wheel

The difference between a hamster wheel and a montage is that in a montage, you’re going somewhere.

You’re working toward a goal, you’re building up a skill, you’re gathering the resources you need for your upcoming journey.

In a hamster wheel, you’re spending all your energy to run in place and go nowhere.

The trick is that Day 91 of the montage feels a lot like a hamster wheel.

Eye of the Tiger

That’s why it’s important to remind yourself of what you’re working toward – to taste your motivation.

Make your own inspirational soundtrack. Create a vision board. Add your “why” to the top of your daily to-do lists.

Whatever your Eye of the Tiger is, find it and remember it each day of your montage.

You’ll need that motivation to go the distance.