Motivation isn’t always what we think it is. A lot of people want to connect to what’s important to them and why it’s important. That can absolutely create a greater motivation and deepen it and spark the fire within to get really clear why it’s important. But sometimes, we understand our whys but we’re still not doing it. We can find strategies to help us move forward. Strategies are different for different people. You’ve got to see what works for you. Finding motivation is to find something that makes you excited and looking forward to something then go with it. It might not be what you think. It might not be the thing that should motivate you. What you have to find is that leverage that enables you to get past any excuse and move forward.
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Finding Motivation: Strategies To Help You Move Forward
I want to talk about motivation. I want to talk about it from an understanding that motivation isn’t always what we think it is. A lot of people want to connect to what’s important to them and why it’s important. That can absolutely create a greater motivation and deepen it and spark the fire within to get really clear why it’s important. For instance, I want to take something that I’ve been struggling with myself and that’s around staying fit and staying healthy. I have been working on these projects and they’ve been consuming me in terms of my focus and attention. One of those things where I’ll say, “I’m going to put some of my workouts on the wayside,” even though I want to work out and I want to be healthier and I absolutely know that when I connect to it, that it makes me feel better that I am ten times more productive when I work out in the morning than when I don’t. I hear these excuses come up in my head, “I need to work early because that’s the only time my developer is available,” or “I need to do this first thing to get it out of the way and then I can work out later.” Then that doesn’t happen.
At the same time, I am connected to what health means for me and I am connected to the results that I’m getting. I understand my why but I’m still not doing it. What I recognized was something so silly can make the difference. I was listening to Mel Robbins who has a great strategy around getting past some of those excuses, which is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. That’s the launch sequence that gets you into action. You can definitely use that. That helps with procrastination or to help when that excuse comes up to break the pattern and push it to the side. I was listening to one of her audio books. When I went to think about working out, I had just finished it and I realized that had I had something interesting that I was looking forward to doing while I was working out, like listening to a great book. It would have been more encouraging and gotten me to say, “I’m excited to take 30 or 45 minutes of time so that I can go down and I can listen.” That would spark more motivation in the moment than me connecting to why it’s important to me.
Finding Motivation: Strategies are different for different people. You’ve got to see what works for you.
I want you to think about that too, in your process. I see a new strategy for myself that’s going to work even better than saying, “I know that when I’m fit, I have more patience. That makes me better in my relationships with my kids and with my boyfriend.” At the end of the day, if that’s not getting the leverage that I need, and it is all about making it fun or something that I’m looking forward to in the moment, then embrace that. Strategies are different for different people. You’ve got to see what works for you. I also think that fun is universal. When we’re excited and looking forward to something, whatever it is that creates that, looking forward to that excitement, then go with it. It might not be what you think. It might not be the thing that should motivate you. How do you know that you can move mountains and do tons of different things to get yourself to a particular concert, this music that you love and you have an opportunity to get the tickets to it? You move heaven and high water in order to get to that concert. That’s motivation. That’s what you have to find, is that leverage that enables you to get past any excuse and move forward.
A lot of times, it has to do with that fun and that connection to something that you want to do and is going to bring you a lot of joy. Find it, whatever it is for you. I am going to definitely be set up with a number of different books that I’m excited to listen to so that I can listen to them during my workouts. I want you to think about what’s going to enhance your workout, what’s going to enhance your pursuit to getting that new job, preparing that resume. What’s going to give you that leverage that you need in order to make more money in your business? That applies to every single area. What’s going to be the fun part that you want to look forward to and you’re excited about? Maybe it means that you create something that you’re going to do for yourself, a reward once you get it. Maybe it’ll be the excitement of reaching that reward. Sometimes, the motivation is also about accountability and telling someone out loud that you’re going to do it. I know that was a huge motivation for me when I was writing my book is I set a date and I told everyone. I put it out there publicly that it was going to release my book for my birthday. If I didn’t do it, then that would go against my value of personal integrity. That’s another strategy that you can use to motivate yourself, is to take your most important value, that if you didn’t stand by that value, that you would not be able to live with yourself. That it would be that painful not to be able to live up to that. That’s a great motivation as well.
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One, we talked about making it fun and making it exciting and something that you can connect to. There’s also that why. Why it’s important and connecting to what’s going to be different for you. Then it’s going to be telling other people about it and putting it out there connected to a value like integrity that when you don’t show up and do what you say, that that’s going to be painful in order for you not to do it. We’re motivated by pain and pleasure, and you noted each of those had a different driver. One of them was pleasure and the other was pain. When you combine them, it’s super powerful. That’s our tip around how to motivate yourself, is to utilize the aspects of pain and pleasure to get yourself in a place so that you can have some more fun, so you can connect to what’s going to be different for you in the future and also so that you can put it out there and share it and celebrate it with others. Thanks for being here. This is all about taking back our time and investing our time and energy in a smart, strategic way so that we can create leverage for ourselves in the future. When we work smarter, then we don’t have to work harder.
Links Mentioned:
- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 – The 5 Second Rule