Are you waiting to get motivated? Yeah, me too. At least I used to. I would wait for motivation while sitting in a cafe, procrastinating over writing the next few pages of the book I’m working on. I’d also wait for motivation to hit as I dressed up and put on makeup. I’d expect motivation to show up suddenly when I cleaned my desk.
But motivation didn’t show up. I had to show up first.
We’re often told that external triggers can make us feel motivated, e.g. putting on work clothes when working from home, or finding the right music, etc. Yes, these things can work but in my experience, they’re not very reliable if you want to get things done day in and day out.
I’m not just talking about our never-ending to do lists, but also about passion projects and life stuff.
I’ve experimented with a lot of things in life. Not drugs, but other things that would either help me or be a ‘learning experience’. I changed my diet, I introduced exercise, I moved to different countries, I shaped my career path. It required motivation and sometimes I wasn’t motivated. I just worked through it. That was okay, but it’s more fun when you’re feeling excited and pumped to get going.
So here is what I found:
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Motivation comes from doing things.
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We typically don’t do things until we’re motivated but that means we don’t get started and starting is the thing that can get you motivated.
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Having a list of things to do is helpful to give you a choice of tasks. They all need to be done and it could be the smallest things that actually kicks off a huge burst of energy for you.
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Motivation is what you create when you take action.
A very helpful approach for moving from ‘waiting for motivation’ to ‘taking action’ is the 5 second rule by Mel Robbins. Mel helps you create a starting ritual that sets things in motion. Her book is great and if you’d prefer to start with free content, check out her many YouTube videos.
At the moment I am working on a lot of personal projects that excited me. Finding the extra time in the evenings or during weekends is a commitment that can be hard to make. Sometimes I don’t do it because I need a break, but more often than not, I commit to doing one small task because it triggers a lot of action and I surprise myself with how much I can get done in a short amount of time once I’m moving.
I invite you to try it for yourself. No matter how unmotivated you are, take a small step in the right direction.
Want to do exercise but really don’t feel like it? Just go for a walk. If that’s too much, then do 10 squats; they will take less than 1 minute. If you are unable to do squats (or something like it), then stand on one leg for 1 minute, then stand on the other leg for 1 minute. A simple balancing exercise. If that’s not possible find something else equally small and do it. Just that.
Need to get a slide deck done at work (I can relate!!!) but don’t know where to start? Just brainstorm your ideas first. Write down the topic, write a short summary. Great! If you have another 5 minutes, draft a rough outline of the structure of your presentation. Now the step to actually putting together your slides isn’t so daunting anymore.
Small steps can lead to big results and they can switch on the motivation to keep going. Good luck! And let me know how you get on :-).