Fundamental of Achievement
All Things
Motivation
Motivation may not be the end-all-be-all on the path to success. But it is one of the most important factors early on. Motivation fuels the fire of change. Without it, you’ll probably never even get started chasing your dreams. If you want to do great things, you should try to master it.
Tier
What Is Motivation?
Motivation is the general desire to take a particular action. The term is also used to describe the reason (or reasons) one has for taking said action. Motivation is an essential aspect of achieving anything, whether large or small. In other words, it a building block of success.
Why Motivation?
The path to Achievement usually begins with motivation. In fact, it’s a vital part of just about everything we humans create.
I don’t claim to be an expert on anything I write about.
Hell, I hardly claim to be an expert on myself. 😂😂😂
These breakdowns are largely for me. I use them to record and reference. Unlike most others on this site though, this goal setting page might actually be useful to the outside observer.
No promises. You can tell me.
Momentum Starter
Motivation is one of the few things that can reverse the inertia of life. It can push you to get started or to stop.
Basis of Drive
Motivation is a push-pull game. You can run toward your goals or flee from your fears. Either way, you progress.
Leverage the Hype
When you’re highly motivated, you’re more likely to approach the tasks in front of you with high energy.
Catalyst for Change
Most of us have things we know we should be doing. Yet it often takes a dose of motivation to make us act.
Finding motivation isn’t necessarily a straight path. Here’s a quick look at what the journey to cultivate it has been like for me.
Learn with Me
I used to think I was unmotivated.
Perhaps I actually was.
At least, I wasn’t motivated to do certain things (like homework or waking up early). Yet I’ve always been highly motivated to do other things. I didn’t really get it when it was younger.
Now, I have a much greater understanding of what moves me. Plus, fatherhood has increased my drive a hundredfold.
I still fall off the wagon once in awhile.
However, I am always acutely aware of my “why.” This prevents me from ever becoming completely stagnant. It’s a gift—and a bit of a curse—that I am extremely grateful for. Without it, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
It’s the first building block for everything I do, including This Site.
My Experience
I consider myself an extremely motivated person.
Sure, my drive ebbs and flows like anyone else.
However, I have certain practices that help me maintain high levels of motivation on a day-to-day basis.
At this point though, it doesn’t take much.
I don’t even think I could be unmotivated if I wanted to be. I’m too obsessed with creating a life worth living.
In the short term, my days are filled with a lot of things I don’t feel like doing. But over the long term, my desire to get the work done wins out against my own resistance.
That is, Discipline is slowly replacing the need for motivation.
- Importance – 90%
- Passion – 85%
- Mastery – 92%
Journey Started: ≈1993
Good Life Foundation
Motivation is where it starts. It is where the journey of achievement begins. Without it, you probably won’t even get started.
Where Motivation Fits in a Good Life
Genuine motivation is requisite for spectacular Achievement.
It is one of my “Tier 3” Favorites, on the same level as Productivity, Personal Growth, and Learning.
It is most closely tied to Self Control and Self Discipline.
1. Achievement
‣ 2. Goal Setting
3. Frameworks
3. Scheduling
4. Yearly
4. Monthly
4. Daily Planning
3. Business Plans
Success Habit Rank
Videos Watched
Mentions on My Site
Books Read
Pulling Threads: A Lion Chasing Rabbits
What the hell is This Site, exactly? A pointless stream of consciousness? A fanboy's ode to his Heroes? A psycho's Favorite topics? All three? Or maybe, it's just the result of a lion chasing rabbits. You might LOL... but this is how it works: I am destined to be the...
Cultivating Motivation to Move You Forward
For motivation newbies:
Let’s start with the best advice up front.
Just get started.
Well, at least that is what I would like to say.
For most of my Favorites, this is usually the way to go. However, without motivation you probably won’t have the will to get started in the first place.
Luckily:
If you look for motivation in earnest, you’re all but guaranteed to find it.
You might begin by asking yourself some questions.
- What has motivated you in your life before?
- What sounds motivating right now?
Generally, motivation comes from one of two places.
The first is hope.
The second is fear.
This dichotomy is often referred to as “the carrot and the stick.”
It is essentially a horse-racing analogy. Hold a carrot out in front of the horse, it will chase it. Smack a horse in the ass with a stick, it will run from it.
(not really, it’s a sheep herding analogy… lead with carrot or bang stick on the ground to drive them forward)
Basically:
The best way to maximize motivation is to find something to chase and something to run from.
So:
What do you want out of life more than anything else?
What are you greatest fears?
Put the two together and you’ll have all the fuel you need to take massive action.
The tricky part is understanding yourself well enough to pinpoint the things that will really get you moving. This is where deep Self Awareness becomes important. Serious soul searching is a common prerequisite when trying to find (or manufacture) true motivation.
For the “lucky” ones, life intervenes with a challenge that they cannot run from. This often comes in the form of disaster, whether immediate or impending. ie. non-fatal heartache vs. warning of heart problems… Either could provide the “wake up call” you need to fix your diet and become more active.
(for me it was the best and worst thing that ever happened to me)
For everyone else, they have to cultivate their own motivation (and eventually convert/parlay that into Self Discipline)
So the question is:
How do you manufacture motivation on a consistent basis?
Well,
but you can generate it semi-synthetically… … unlikely that you’ll ever become truly motivated/discover true motivation unless you have a challenge before you… unlock your potential, might be out of your control or you might need to generate one for yourself
useful to get pumped, hard to get pumped everyday… but if you can do it consistently, it’s worth it… for example, this is why I use moticuts in my morning routine
You may be surprised to hear that there is also a scientific aspect to motivation… understand dopamine/brain chemistry of motivation
Without it, life tends to stagnate. For human beings, this is tantamount to a slow death.
Still, motivation is not the end all-be-all. (It’s more like a starting point.)
Mel Robbins says:
“Motivation is Garbage.”
David Goggins says something similar.
I tend to agree with them. Motivation will usually get you started, but it won’t necessarily sustain you. That’s where Willpower and Self Control come in.
you can even be motivated to do something but still fail to make yourself do it… must be combined with will power/self control… and ultimately discipline
emotional alchemy/using the darkness… might not want to heal your trauma first for motivation’s sake (going the Sasuke/Kobe way)
foment the fires… motivation is the spark… could use fire analogy throughout page
ultimately, you have to learn how to be your best self when you are least motivated… from Goggins
motivation is a temporary state… character is a part of your self identity
mindset… grit, mental toughness, and especially discipline
Remember, don’t wait to find motivation. Manufacture it yourself.
How to Stoke the Fires of Motivation Step-By-Step
00
Encounter Adversity
The best way to become motivated is to have a challenge before you. In fact, it often takes hitting “rock bottom” to find true motivation. Unfortunately, that’s just how we’re wired. It’s hard to find the “zero options mentality” until you truly have zero options.
01
Find Your "Why"
You have to want it. That requires knowing what exactly it is that you want. Better yet, identify why you want the things you want. If you want to make big changes or take massive action, you need reasons. Good reasons, bad reasons—what matters is your reasons.
02
Set Big Goals
Inspiring goals give you something to chase. Making them explicit is one of the most powerful things you can do to kickstart your internal drive. It shouldn’t just be a one-time thing either. Review and revise your goals to keep the emotional connection alive.
03
Fear Setting
Fear setting gives you something to run from. This can be just as important as having something to pursue. There is power in the dark side. Fear and anger are two of the strongest motivating forces out there. Alchemize your emotions. Unleash your potential.
04
Brainwash Yourself
To a large degree, you can train yourself to feel motivated. It may not be the end-all-be-all, but it does help. You can “Brainwash Yourself” into becoming more motivated with Gratitude practices, Affirmations, listening to Moticuts, and finding inspirational Heroes.
Affirmations, journaling, moticuts, heroes, gratitude… voices from outside and voice from inside
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05
Control Mentality
Mindset has a major impact on day-to-day motivation. It’s easy to lose morale when you’re slugging through the mud on the way to your goal. Mental Toughness, Grit, … make it easier to deal with Adversity and stay motivated.
grit, toughness, resilience, overcoming adversity… morale
06
Become Disciplined
To become your very best self, you’ll eventually have to take it one step further and transcend motivation. Self Discipline is the art and science of getting things done regardless of how you feel. It’s the evolved form, where you do it even when you don’t feel motivated.
Remember: just start. As soon as you realize you are in control of your own motivation, you’re ahead of 90% of the population.
My Favorite Motivation Videos
Everything you need to know about how motivation works can be found online.
I’m no high performance titan. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I simply listen to what my Heroes say and apply it. Not everything sticks. But enough does to make a lasting impact.
Data
Dump
One of the main purposes of This Site is to catalog my learnings. I’m not that learned. But I’m working on becoming moreso. If you see a “data dump” on this site, you’re looking at unsorted information. It may be related or completely unrelated, depending on the topic.
The 2 Minute Rule Will Quickly Change Your Life
PNTV: Black Hole Focus
1. Sheep vs. Strategists – 0:59
- In biology, sheep only respond to what’s in front of them. And many people are like sheep, only responding to the most recent stimuli
- A strategist is stepping back and asking “what’s the vision and what’s the strategy for my future?”
- If all you’re doing is going through your life like a sheep, then you’ll have a tough time living a life of deep purpose
2. Ikigai – 3:03
- Japanese word referring to a reason to get up in the morning
- That purpose gives you energy and vitality
- Linked with some of the most long-lived populations
3. Rats Swim – 4:34
- An interesting study from the ’50s about how long rats could swim before giving up
- Was found that typically, the rats would swim for 15 minutes before giving up and sinking
- Then he tested what would happen if he pulled them out before the 15 minutes for a break and put them back. If given breaks, they could swim for 60 hours (or 240x more endurance). This is potentially attributable to a sense of hope.
- Hope is the belief that your future is going to be better than your present. And having hope in a better future creates energy
4. Greatness x2 – 7:20
- The two steps of greatness are 1. KNOW! that you can achieve greatness (or believing that you can go the distance) and 2. Decide what you’re going to commit yourself to (finding the courage to dive head-first into one thing)
- If you could do anything and you were guaranteed not to fail, what would you go for. It’s less about specifically what you want, but more about finding the courage to do it.
- 99% of people don’t think they’re capable of greatness, so they set lower goals
- There’s more competition for low-hanging fruit
5. Singularity – 11:02
- The physics of your purpose
- A singularity is infinite density and infinitesimal volume combined at the center of a black hole
- When you’re willing to commit that intensity with that singularity focus, everything gets sucked into it
- It takes a ton of energy to do great work and you can’t dissipate it on trivial distractions
Four Decisions Changed My Life
How To Quickly Get Out of a Rut
DO THIS DAILY To Destroy Procrastination | Tom Bilyeu
You'll Hate It, But It Will SKY ROCKET Your Motivation
How To Do Things You Don't Want to Do
“It Actually Affects How Much Dopamine Is Released”
Protocol For Discipline, Hard Work, & Motivation
Brain
Chemistry
Neuroscience has uncovered many biological secrets about how motivation works. Luckily, much of this information is readily available thanks to people like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Huberman. Now, great insights about motivation are just a lecture or podcast away.
Hopes &
Dreams
Goals are one of the most obvious sources of motivation. However, Setting Goals that pull you forward isn’t always as straightforward as you might expect. Especially when it comes to translating motive to consistent, daily actions—how you set your goals makes a difference.
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Favorite
Moticuts
Les Brown, Eric Thomas, Jim Rohn, David Goggins, Greg Plitt, Inky Johnson, Motivational compilations play a key role in my daily motivational recipe. Here are some of the heaviest hitters I’ve found.
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Transcending
Motivation
Eventually,
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Learning This About Discipline Changed My Life
You Lack Discipline | Andrew Tate & Jocko WIllink
How I Use Motivation to Create the Life I want
If you haven’t noticed, I take this stuff seriously.
You don’t have to do it like me. But maybe you wanna know. So I guess I’ll tell you. You might have picked some of it up by reading through this page or clicking on some of the links.
I’ll spell it all out here.
Setting Mile-High Goals
I’m basically obsessed with my goals. I od all sorts of Goal Setting exercises on a fairly regular basis. That includes everything from enormous life goals and yearly goals to daily and weekly goals… help me keep the fire in my belly burning red-hot.
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Sincere Fear Setting/Using the Darkness/Emotional Alchemy
“Fear Setting” is a concept I learned from Tim Ferris.
might not want to heal your trauma too early
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Affirmations & Moticuts
For me, it really helps to get pumped, especially when I need to do something I really don’t enjoy. Affirmations and Moticuts are big parts of my Morning Routine that help me cultivate an unstoppable Mindset. They have a significant impact on my output and mood. They aren’t particularly fun, but Habit Tracking has made a believer out of me.
Self Brainwashing
Bullet Journal Games
gamify things like my habit and productivity tracking, even content production because it makes it fun…
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Journey of Fatherhood
[pulled from character]
In my estimation, I didn’t become a man until my first son was born. Even before having kids, I would always say that my life purpose was “to play my part in creating the world my sons deserve.” What I didn’t realize is just how profound the pull would be once I actually had sons. Now, my boys are far and away my biggest sources of motivation.
Stories?/Motivational Media
fairy tale, gurenn lagann
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Aspirational Leaders
One of the greatest gifts of the Information Age is the access it provides to the living legends of our time. I love following today’s titans of Entrepreneurship, Scholarship, and Achievement. I often immerse myself in their content for weeks or months at a time in an effort to become more like them. That’s what my Heroes section is all about.
Favorite Coaches
Favorite Teachers
Favorite Entrepreneurs
My Motivation Posts
My Month in Personal Growth – January 2018
As I mentioned in my Grateful as Fnck post: I'm going to try to start a regular blogging habit. It's about time. After all, I've had high-paying copywriting clients for several years now. I should have started writing for myself when I first began my work from home...
My Month in Personal Growth – January 2018
As I mentioned in my Grateful as Fnck post: I'm going to try to start a regular blogging habit. It's about time. After all, I've had high-paying copywriting clients for several years now. I should have started writing for myself when I first began my work from home...
My Top 3 High Performance Coaches
"YouTube University" has brought many a life-optimizer across my path. These three are my favorite high performance coaches.
So, You Think You Want to Climb to the Top?
Nice little subtitle for the win. Nice little subtitle for the win. Nice little subtitle for the win. Nice little subtitle for the win. or the win.
