Whether it be to do your job, get your schoolwork done, clean your house, work on your creative passion, etc.
Bonus points if you’re someone without reasonable self-control so saying something like “I can only have a cookie after I do this/while I do this” doesn’t work for you and you’re just going to eat the cookie and not do it.
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Quite honestly the biggest game changer for me was understanding that you don’t have to feel like doing something in order to do it.
Force yourself to do it for five minutes, and 99% of the time you get in the groove and realise “Oh, this actually isn’t so bad” and before you know it, you’re done.
Every day I exercise (walking) and every single time it goes like this:
- Don’t wanna do it
- Start doing it anyway
- It’s done
- Feel good that I did it
People think motivation comes before action, but it is actually the reverse. You have to decide (not be motivated) to act, and the motivation will follow.
You build discipline so as not to rely on motivation, as motivation is unreliable.
Like, if you rely on motivation, depression will win. It’ll get ya. Sneak attack, pin you when you’re down. Or just heavy life events like losing a loved one, or a job. When shit hits hard, there is no motivation. None. Zero. Things can happen in life where purpose feels completely gone. You cannot rely on motivation, because if you end up here and motivation was your only path forward, you’re toast! Well not really, but the uphill battle is even steeper.
What are you trying to to be motivated to do? Play music? Every day, 30 minutes, no excuses.
Get into hiking shape? 1 small hike every weekend. Rain or shine.
Build the discipline. Form the habit. The motivation will come and go. Habits get broken. Discipline stays.
I mostly second this. I have a mantra “Embrace the uncomfortable”. Not in a “work yourself to death for some number” kind of way, but in a “go outside, even if its raining” kind of way. It helps me to appreciate small comforts afterwards and reduces the amount of energy needed to do stuff.
I have this mantra that I say to myself. I think it’s from Tibetan monks, but I heard it on an NPR interview.
"May we be victorious over our fears.
May we be happy without hope.
May we be of benefit to all."
The fear here is my fear of doing the thing. The lack of hope is what I feel because I will not just fucking do the thing. The benefit to all is what happens when I actually do the thing.
I know it sounds super depressing, but it helps me… sometimes.
I actually kind of vibe with this. I don’t think its depressing, sounds uplifting to me.
You don’t.
No really, you don’t, you just force yourself to do it because you know it’s got to be done. I know it sucks but it is what it is, sometimes we have to do shit we don’t want to, but once you start it’s usually not so bad as you thought it’d be and then it gets easier with time especially if you make it part of your routine.
Source: life experience.
I don’t have the motivation to do the whole thing.
That being said, I only need the motivation to start the task. Once started, I don’t need motivation to continue doing the on-going task.
Soo, you may not need as much motivation as you think you need. Just push yourself to start one small bit of the task , and voila , before you know it, the task is over.
Ifind the Non Zero Days philosophy super helpful but it’s from the old site back when it was good.
Change your perception of the task, instead of it being a ‘thing that you will be happy to have done’ look at it as a ‘thing that are happy doing’,
for example instead of ‘I will be happy to have learned to play the piano so I should force myself to practice’ think ‘I am happy while practicing the piano’ instead of ‘I have to do the dishes’ think ‘I am cleaning these dishes with perfection, and optimising their placement so that they will dry the quickest’
Basically, don’t do things for the end goal, do it for the action itself, live in the present, not in the future. There’s always enjoyment to get from any chore if you approach it from this mindset.
My partner look at me funny when I put my shirts to dry in ascending color order, and my socks all parrallel, but the truth is, I’m having fun doing it that way, the chore has become a meticulous game that I take pleasure from.
Never had an issue with being motivated. Crippling anxiety issues really are one hell of a motivation. I just want that stressful thing off my proverbial plate.
I can say from that perspective. Start with the easy tasks first. Under 5 minutes? Go do it. Then the harder ones. It’s a lot better to see that you had 10 things on the to-do list and most are already done.
Put your phone in airplane mode. Don’t distract yourself. TV off too.
I just think about how much worse I would feel later with this damn thing hanging over me. Alternately, I think back to how good I felt last time I actually got something done.
I don’t wait for motivation. I just tell myself, “You don’t have to want it, you just have to do it,” and then I do it. Usually.
Once I’m already doing something I tend to keep doing it, so it’s the transition that’s hardest. I find that if I start a task when I’m already transitioning from another activity, it’s a lot easier than getting up off the couch or putting down my phone.
It sucks, but you can’t really expect it not to suck.
Another insight that I adopted years ago was to do unpleasant tasks when I’m already unhappy. If I’m gonna be miserable anyway, might as well get something out of it, right?
In addition to other tips already mentioned, I’ve found it’s easiest for me to muster willpower to do chores/tasks first thing in the morning. That way I get stuff done before I get distracted and/or lose willpower. Also it’s sort of cheating because I’m not fully awake yet.
Motivation is a fleeting thing. Adulthood and success are built upon discipline, not motivation. We do what must be done, regardless of our feelings about it. Do what must be done, then enjoy your time spent doing better things once what is necessary is complete. Live by the words of Logan Nine Fingers from The Blade Itself:
It is better to do a thing than to live with the fear of it.
I get really fuckin high and then become numb until I’m in the groove.
I feel like I should specify weed.
For me, it’s mostly retreat, regroup and get back. I accepted that it is okay not to be motivated the whole time. I take a break from everything and curl up in my room. When I feel better, I try to figure out what needs to be done first. And then I go back out.
That’s to be said that constant loss of motivation, could be a sign of Depression or other mental and/or physical Illnesses. If this continues, you should talk to your Doctor about this.
