Dear Matt,
A question about motivation, which is something I struggle with. What do you do to get motivated and stay motivated?
Bump Enderow
Dear Bump,
Motivation is over-rated. There’s a big difference being FOCUSED and being motivated.
Give me someone who is quietly focused and gets the job done and I’ll take that person over someone who is rah-rah-rah but can’t finish nuthin.
Yesterday my daughter, Faith, asked me how she can increase her motivation to write and workout each day, especially when she feels tired after getting off work. My answer, “Forget about motivation and focus on being focused. Write when you’re tired. Workout when you’re tired – and you won’t be tired.”
I also showed Faith some of the notes I “journal” to begin each day. She was amazed at how often I started out with words such as “I feel tired,” or “I don’t feel like writing today.”
Feelings are tricksters.
Feelings don’t tell the whole story.
Feelings also flip, and quickly, when you start doing something that you’d rather resist or avoid.
Don’t want to go for a walk because you feel tired? Then start walking and within a few minutes you’ll want to keep going.
The same is true with everything – including writing.
Motivation strikes when you have momentum.
You get momentum when you give yourself a small action step instead of a gigantic one. Showing up is more than half the battle.
I hate manual labor. I’m not motivated to cut the grass, much less pull weeds. I can easily hire someone else to do this for me and probably should. Then again, this manual labor does my brain and body a lot of good. Within minutes of getting started, it’s hard for me to stop, and what’s most amazing is that while I’m focused on this labor, I’m enjoying what I thought I hated.
When you focus on getting started, a surge of momentum comes along which can lead to the feeling of being motivated – yet it happens without you focusing on motivation.
Focus on being focused and motivation will take care of itself.
Matt Furey
