Do you think motivation is something that you just do have or don’t have? Should you care about it or it comes by itself, just like inspiration? The opinions vary regarding that, but mine has just been clarified, and I want to share my understanding with you today.
My observation
Recently I observed the trend on denying the importance, the sense or the matter of motivation. I’ve read quite a few articles where authors were claiming (at least I got such feeling) that motivation is something that your organism is generating magically in an uncontrollable way. So you don’t really have any influence on feeling such.
What I think, is that publishing such message may result in the falsified belief that when someone is not motivated at the time being, he can’t do anything about it to improve it.
Doomed to fail.
In my opinion, that’s nasty and more importantly – incorrect.
I always had an opposite feeling about motivation – that I should care about it, because when I don’t, my day/week/month/any period really – is not productive, effective or valuable.
However, I’ve been constantly told by my personal authorities it is not the way it works. The occasional lack of motivation may – for instance – be caused by poorly defined goals, not ideal characteristics/attitude or else.
Luckily, today I found this quote (you may already know how I like quotes 😉 )
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily. – Zig Ziglar
Finally! I’m not alone with my opinion! 🙂
It’s good to know somebody else shares the understanding of the world around us. I definitely sympathize with this perception.
How do I care about my motivation then?
I don’t have any outstanding recipe for this or even particular routine defined, however, I’ve got few things which often works for me:
- Reviewing my long term goals (that’s my weekly routine actually)
- Following others who do great work – my friends, idols, and authorities
- Watching inspirational movies (like Jobs (2013) or The Theory of Everything (2014))
- Listening to my favorite music or motivational talks (Fearless motivation)
- Realizing we can’t get our time back. Never.
- Looking at the things I already achieved and how much effort they have cost (I was capable of doing them – so I’m capable of completing current ones)
- This poster:
How to get back
Recently on our Mastermind group, we discussed how to get back on track after losing the momentum of the work. When you quit your habits you already developed, stopped deliver your stuff. I don’t think we came up with the golden rule regarding that, however, according to Kaizen approach, you should strive to do at least one little thing which will make you closer to your objectives.
At first, you may decrease the workload then. Did you do 2 blog post per week? Do at least one now. Problems with your jogging? Do it tomorrow morning even for 10 mins, but do it! Later on you may increase the time.
Make a plan. How will you get back? What do you want to achieve at this point? 10 mins jogging tomorrow morning? Delivering it will give you a kick of endorphins that will push you further.
Set the deadline. Plans that are time bound are magic. They are definitely more probable to happen. Give yourself a chance – make the success your destiny 😉
Thanks for reading!
How about you? Are you for or against caring about the motivation?
Do you have any tricks to share to get over the time when you feel you can’t do anything about your productivity?
