I came across this systematic review of how music impacts motivation via Arnold’s Pump Club newsletter. The gist of the review is that music very much does increase human motivation, which in turn leads to better outcomes for people. I think most of us know this through personal experience. Throughout my life I most often deploy music as a tool to increase motivation when it comes to exercise, which I normally don’t find fun. Not surprisingly, this list is heavy on the metal.

Here are some of my go-to tunes to get me going. In the case of these songs, it is definitely a combination of the both the music and lyrics that fire me up.