Self Motivation
This post is inspired by Ali Abdaal’s recent video called ‘Why Motivation is a Myth’. Click here to watch that video. It’s a great video, and it’s worth watching through all of his stuff.
Everyone has struggled with Self Motivation at one time or another. For some people, it’s all about setting goals and hitting them and while this is a decent method, I’ve stumbled across a much better one…removing the word ‘Motivation’ from my mind all together! I know that sounds strange, but hear me out…
How do we currently get motivation? Without thinking about it, right? The only time we actually sit down and think about motiviation is when we think we need it. We feel like watching or listening to an inspirational video, podcast, TV Show, anything to stimulate some sort of motivation, when in-fact, we don’t need the motivation from others. We can create it ourselves.
On a morning, if I don’t have anything planned for my day, I’ll head over to my note taking app as soon as I wake up and write down all the tasks I’d like to get done. Almost like a brain dump! Literally anything that’s on my mind, I’ll note down and then re-organise by putting them in a priority order. I’ll also have a quick think about when I’ll want to complete the tasks by.
Once I’ve got that list down, I’ll finish off my morning routine and get cracking on my tasks. Let’s say in this example, the first task is to finish writing a blog post. Once I’ve ticked that off, that’s one down already! It’s at this point, I get the vital bit of endurance that I need to proceed. The satisfaction of ticking an item off of the list, getting it done, and not having to worry about it. That’s my motivation.
In summary, I believe that motivation isn’t about watching your favourite YouTubers and seeing their tidy workspaces or ‘perfect’ lifestyles. And while this can often help, it’s not what we’re looking for. I need actionable steps to take towards making decent progress and that’s where the tasks come in. Almost gamifying my day.
Of course not everyday will be like this, but I hope this gives you a couple of ideas for your daily routine.
Thanks for reading!
Rob
