You’re the only one who can give yourself the motivation you want and need.
No matter what it is you want to do, you won’t succeed until you supply yourself with the fuel of motivation you’re currently searching for everywhere but yourself.
Even if you really want to reach an end goal, the only person who can push you there is you. But chances are, right now you’re sniffing around for an easier route where someone else gets to do the hard work for you.
If you want to reach a goal, it’s up to you to decide whether or not that actually happens.
It’s like you won’t get fit until you actually workout. You have to figure out what drives you. And then you have to give that to yourself.
But it feels exhausting only because our motivation muscles are weak.
Motivation is something you create, not something you find.
So how do we get motivated? Well, it all begins with you deciding that you can, in fact, do the thing you want to do.
You have to believe it.
Did you know that you get to decide what’s True in your life?
You’re the only person who lives in the tiny little micro universe of Your Mind. Your Mind operates according to your instructions. It believes whatever you tell it to believe.
Once your mind has received any little bit of unsolicited feedback, it has two options for where to file that statement: in the Beliefs folder, or the Trash. If it gets stored with other Beliefs, you’ve decided it’s true. Because really, who’s to say what’s True? The point is: what you believe to be true is entirely up to you.
This is also true when it comes to your abilities and what’s possible. And this is important: Whether you believe you can or believe you can’t — you’re right. Now, once you decide to believe you can do something you have to actually do it.
Believe it, do it. Two steps and you’re done. It’s really that simple.
If you want to start waking up earlier, then the right thing to do is decide, “Ok, I’m waking up tomorrow at 7:00 am instead of 7:30 am.” Then set the alarm, and wake up the next morning at 7:00 am. Boom. Rinse and repeat. The wrong thing to do is decide, “Ok, I’m waking up tomorrow at 7:00 am instead of 7:30 am.” Then set the alarm, and wake up the next morning and hit snooze on your alarm clock because you feel tired still and it’s all too much anyway.
Notice I didn’t say this was easy. Yes, it’s hard. But it’s also a practice, so start small. Think about what easier goals you might have in your life (say, to drink more water every day) and work on motivating yourself to do that until it becomes just what you do. Then work up to the bigger challenges.
There will definitely be days where motivation just feels impossible to come by. Then yes, of course, this is why tools like self-help books and support from others can help put us back on track. But we just have to be careful not to get so comfortable in all the motivation that we forget to actually do the thing.
The key is to learn what tricks help you and your brain stay on the motivation track.
We’re all motivated by different things. Maybe what really lights your fire is when you think about trying to help your family. Or maybe you’re motivated by wanting to be able to live healthfully until your old age.
The most important thing is that whenever you start to feel a bit blah, you make sure to reignite that fire.
You’re the only one tending to it, after all.
If you want motivation, it’s simple: You got this.