All Things
Motivation

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.

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.

The Carrot and the Stick

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.

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.

However, motivation does not always come from within.  Sometimes it comes from without.

If you’re “lucky”, life may intervene with a challenge that you cannot run from.  This often comes in the form of disaster, whether immediate or impending.

Serious health issues is one of the most common examples of this.  A non-fatal heartache could provide the “wake up call” you need to fix your diet and take your fitness seriously.  You may have been warned your whole life about the dangers of your lifestyle.  But it doesn’t feel real until catastrophe comes knocking.

Life’s funny that way.  If you don’t find your own carrot, life may just hit you with a stick the size of a tree trunk.

And it may just be the best thing that ever happened to you—as it was for me.

For everyone else, you have to cultivate your own motivation.

Manufacturing Motivation

Now the question becomes:

How do you manufacture motivation on a consistent basis?

Well, you could try to Brainwash Yourself into it.

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

There are all sorts of things you can do to stoke the fire in your belly.  Obviously, nothing has a perfect success rate.  Some strategies may even dwindle in their effectiveness over time.  Nonetheless, it’s best if you find things that work for you and turn them into Habits.

Experiment with practices like Meditation, Affirmations, and Journaling in your Routine.  Listen to some of the great motivational speeches.  Read some of the great motivational books.  Consume more positive media.  Seek out inspirational stories, in both the real world and in fiction.

Do everything you can to foment the fire within you.

You could even study a little of the modern science on motivation.  We actually know an awful lot about how motivation works from a Neuroscience perspective.  Learn how to manage your Dopamine, Cortisol, and everything else swirling throughout your mind and body.

There’s really no excuse not to at least try to take control of your own brain chemistry in the Information Age.

On a more conceptual level, it’s important to know what you really want.  If you haven’t done any real Goal Setting before, taking a deep dive into your hopes and dreams would surely help in a big way.

Whatever you want to do, you’ll have better “luck” if you take control of your own motivation.

Without it, life tends to stagnate.  For human beings, this is tantamount to a slow death.

Still, motivation is not the ultimate goal.  (It’s just the spark.)

Going Beyond Motivation

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.  It’s a temporary, transient state.  Plus, twin destroyers of human potential known as Distraction and Procrastination are always lurking in the shadows waiting for their chance to pounce.

Even when you feel extremely motivated, you can still fail to make yourself do the work.  On the flip side, you need to cultivate the ability to show up even when you don’t feel motivated.

Therefore the aim should be to become a Disciplined person.

And that’s a matter of Character, Self Identity, and Mindset.  Permanent changes to these things tend to take longer to make, and require that you make changes to your Habits.  Through Daily Practice, Willpower, and Self Control, you can change your behavioral default settings.

Obviously, it’s all easier to say than to do.

But it is doable.

And it’s also worth it.

My Motivation Posts