Ep 26 – Motivation to get started and keep going

This episode is the listener’s topic preference. A popular request I received was  to speak on Motivation – how to stay motivated and motivation techniques. And that’s what we are going to talk about today. We have all faced this. We want to achieve something we are reasonably sure its important we achieve that but the idea gets lost somewhere between intention and action. And we usually pin the blame of that gap on not feeling motivated enough. 

What can you expect from this episode? 

• 02:00 – What is Motivation?

• 03:00 – 2 parts to motivation 

• 04:47 – Methods to get started

• 09:00 – Tips to stay motivated  

So what is motivation really? 

It took me a minute to find the words that can express this phenomenon – the closest word I could associate was drive, an internal burning desire to change. Change could be change in self in behaviour, patterns, actions or in the environment when we are looking to change the people we surround with or our lifestyle. Motivation could also be external, a pull from your surroundings imposing a change on you. For starters, let’s look at  internal motivation. 

I read this definition somewhere from the book War of Art

“At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.”

Motivation is that drive that channelizes your energy and pushes you into action. 

There are 2 parts to motivation the way I see it 

   #1. Motivation to get started

   #2. Motivation to keep going 

If you’ve been trying to achieve something and failing over and over again, you would know how both are important to eventually reach that goal you set for yourself. 

So let’s start with one. You have your goal in sight, you are convinced it is necessary, but you cannot get yourself to get started on the path. You never feel like doing the grunt work necessary to get started. Sounds Familiar? 

It is because inertia is a real thing. Our bodies and minds are configured to resist change from the status quo. They like running on auto-pilot on minimum interference. When you suddenly decide no more sweets after every meal one fine day, your body resists. You open the fridge and the piece of chocolate is in your mind before you realize it, because it runs on auto-pilot. 

Which means that when you really want to make a change from your existing behaviours and patterns, motivation is really about making things habitual, that it runs on auto-pilot without too much dilly-dallying and decision making. 

I mean think about it – is getting up from the bed harder or doing the things you planned to do at 5 AM difficult. Obviously the first right? But once you’ve taken the first step everything moves in a state of flow. The challenge is 100 times harder to get started. 

So the question you must ask is for whatever goal you are setting for yourself – how can you make getting started easier? 

Let’s break it now, first things first to be motivated 

   #1. Clarity on what you need to do 

This is one of the first things I realized when I started reflecting on why I couldn’t stay consistent. For example, I used to tell myself to write every day, market my business every day to widen my reach. But these things would never happen. Because they were vague things – write what? Market to whom? How? If you leave decision making to when you get around to doing it, the chances of it happening are extremely slim. However, if you take the time to pre-determine what needs to be done and why, getting started is that much easier. 

   #2. Schedule them at a set time

Do you want to work out every day – schedule it at a set time, it can be 5 AM or PM, but make it a habit, that way you’re training your mind and body to expect the rigor when the clock hits 5. If you leave important things to happen when you feel motivated – the chances are they never will. Like I always say,

prioritise what’s important and make it happen. 

   #3. Have a ritual around getting started 

James Clear calls this setting a cue for yourself or a reminder that you’re going to get into the activity. For example, when I’m writing – I physically move to my desk and power up my surface pro to begin writing or if i’m working out – the clothes and the gym mat are already set aside so when the clock hits 5 I get into those clothes and am on the mat before my mind can come up with 100 excuses why I shouldn’t be working out today. And believe me when I say our minds can come up with excuses quickly – Oh it’s been a long day, I’ve been fasting for 16 hours, there’s so much more work to do. The excuses are endless and you will never get going if you pay heed to them. Having a ritual around getting started helps prepare your mind and body to what comes next which reduces the resistance to get going. 

    #4.  Measure your progress 

The same example I gave you before. I wanted to give time to market my business but it never happened because it was too vague. Then I put a number to it, I would reach X entrepreneurs daily. I still fail miserably most days, but at least now there’s a number to it. If I were to look back at the end of the month now, I can really find a hit rate, a quantifiable number that tells me how well I fared. This to me became a game changer. Humans are hardwired to be competitive so why not use that for a better cause. Measure your progress towards your goal frequently, not in an obsessive way, but as a motivator to keep you going closer and closer to the finish line. 

   #5. Constantly up the game 

There is a rule that I came across – It is called The Goldilocks Rule. It states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard that you feel discouraged from taking it up in the first place. Not too easy that it bores you. Just right.

Let’s talk about keeping the motivation to keep at it. Think about how many times you start things with so much gusto but before you know it you’ve had enough of It and are back to your old ways of life without blinking an eyelid. 

More often than not, motivation tends to fizzle out much before you actually get to achieve what you set out to, right? Scientifically there is a progress principle that is said to keep you motivated. The progress principle as the name suggests is to measure progress from where you started as a motivator to keep you going. As you start seeing results, the more motivated you are to keep at it. 

For me, personally though, just this has never been enough. A lot of things we take up in our life are much longer games, things that reap us benefits in years not weeks. So then how can you stay motivated despite no visible immediate results? Motivation then doesn’t feel enough, I don’t just need the drive to push me, but I need the consistency to keep at it no matter what. 

That’s when discipline comes in handy. If I’m convinced something is important for me in the long run, I diligently make it a habit. I look forward to the process of becoming rather than working towards a vague goal years down the line. Invest in the process and reward consistency instead of intensity of motivation and you’ll find it in you to make that change happen. 

Drop me a message on how you plan to motivate yourself towards change in your life and feel free to get in touch if you hit a roadblock anywhere. I am active across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @beingmeraklis and will be happy to address any questions you have on moving forward towards your goals. You can also participate in our membership at the Being Meraklis Tribe, a community filled with like-minded peers on their journey of growth and transformation.