| If you can’t seem to be able to finish most of the things you start, it’s rarely an issue of motivation.
Tell me if this sounds familiar.
You set out to do something awesome (for example, building the Lego’s Millenium Falcon which is the biggest Lego set there is)...
… But somehow, after the initial excitement, you can’t seem to find the time for it… so you do less and less every day. And before you know it, it’s just there, at the corner of your living room, gathering dust (and angry, cold stares from your significant other).
Is it a lack of motivation or something else?
Before I answer that, let’s look at it from a different perspective.
Do you think all the people who start on a diet and exercise regime and then, a couple of days, weeks, or months (at best) later quit, lack motivation?
I don’t think so. Since 90% of people who lose a lot of weight eventually regain it, it would mean that 9 people out of 10 lack motivation and…
To me, that just doesn’t sound right!
To put this in context, it would mean that 9 out of 10 people who lead otherwise normal lives have gotten degrees, work normal jobs, or run businesses, but somehow lack motivation.
But… for the sake of argument, let’s assume that weight loss is different from everything else, and somehow you need extraordinary amounts of motivation to succeed with it.
What about building a successful online business, then?
What about creating an additional income stream that would make your life so much easier?
Well, here’s another statistic for you.
Only 3.3% of people who enroll in an online course, actually finish it. Put another way, if you invested in a course that teaches you how to build a business online and then consumed it in its entirety, that would almost put you in the 1%.
Do you see what I mean?
I don’t think that 97 out of 100 people lack motivation.
There must be something else!
And there is. Here’s the thing. If you’re a normal, functioning adult, you do NOT lack motivation.
Yeah, there will be days where you’ll feel like not doing anything, but that’s not a lack of motivation… it’s just a way of your body saying “enough!” and forcing you to rest.
(Oh, and if you suspect that you might lack motivation because you’re depressed and burned out, seek help - don’t joke around with that stuff.)
I digress.
Simply put, motivation is what you use to get started.
Finishing things? Different skills altogether.
Setting goals isn’t the answer. It’s a nice piece that plays well on podcasts, blogs, articles, and on expensive seminars. There’s even this widely spread statistic that only 3% of people write down their goals… and get a load of this: it often gets cited as “only 3% of people have goals”, period.
First of all, do you think that sounds right? What about New Year's resolutions? I think almost every single person on the planet has said to themselves, “that’s it, this year is going to be different” when the clock strikes midnight. I know I do it - and so does everyone else I know.
Second, do you think there’s a correlation between writing down your goals and achieving them? The evidence of that is, at best, circumstantial in my opinion.
So what you lack isn’t setting goals or writing them down if you want to achieve something.
What is it, then?
There’s a hidden source of almost overwhelming motivation that every one of us can tap into whenever we want, to do whatever we want.
But it’s completely different than what most people understand by motivation.
You see, researchers have concluded (for the most part) that intrinsic (self) motivation doesn’t exist.
Intrinsic motivation is the type of motivation we speak most of when we relate motivation to goals.
There’s another type of motivation, called extrinsic motivation… which is outward motivation.
Here’s an example.
If you wanted to eat healthier, intrinsic motivation would be waking up one morning and thinking you should be eating healthier. Extrinsic motivation would be your cardiologist telling you to eat healthily or you’re not going to live to see your next birthday.
Unfortunately, we’re not going to have a cardiologist at our side all the time telling us that we should eat healthy. Or a financial planner telling us that if we keep spending like there’s no tomorrow, we’re going to starve ourselves when we’re old, and we’re going to work as WalMart greeters until the end of our days.
How do we self-motivate?
Most people think that first, they need motivation, and then they’re going to take action.
But research shows that the opposite is true.
It’s the action that’s important.
In other words, take action and the motivation will follow.
Need to write a 1,000-word email? Well, instead of waiting for motivation for a week, sit down and start writing. You’ll have it done in an hour, or 30 minutes if you’re fast.
Need to build a lead magnet to grow your list? Don’t wait for motivation. Set a timer for 120 minutes and start researching. When 120 minutes have passed, you’re not allowed to research anymore. Take a break. Then, start creating.
Or, want to lose a few pounds? Don’t wait for tomorrow. Get up, and go for a short walk. Perhaps you won’t even need any motivation to say no to a soda after that.
And so on.
The action comes first. And motivation will follow.
This is how you finish what you start.
Every time. What do you think? Send me your comments.
To Your Success, Paul Hanson
|
|
|
