debbiebradleyWhen we want to do something in our lives, we get it done. Why?
When we know we need to do something but don’t want to do it, we struggle. Why?
Motivation
Motivation is the reason for all of it.
The stuff we want to do? We get it done because we’re MOTIVATED to do it.
The stuff we need to do, but don’t want to do… we struggle because we wait “to feel motivated.”
Have you ever said one of the following;
“I know I need to do {insert random boring task}, but I’m waiting to feel motivated.”
“I’ve joined the gym! That will motivate me to get in shape”
“If I find the right trainer/coach/whoever to motivate me to do it, then I’ll be fine.”
NEWSFLASH: It. Won’t. Work. (Sorry, not sorry)
Motivation isn’t something someone else can give you. Motivation isn’t something that can be found or created. Motivation isn’t a simple, ‘quick-win’ philosophy.
Motivation, by definition, is simply the desire to do things.
If you keep putting off doing the boring task, or going to the gym, or whatever else it is that you keep putting off, yet keep it on your to-do list because you know you should be doing it, then the answer is simple. You don’t want to do it, and you probably never will. You either don’t want to do it, don’t know how to do it, or you don’t want to figure out how to do it.
You’re not motivated, and you’re not going to be.
“Do, or do not. There is no try.” -Yoda
What works better than motivation
Inspiration.
Simple as that… when you’re feeling inspired you have a new energy. Use that energy!
When you listen to a ‘motivational’ speaker, you’re not really motivated, you’re inspired. Motivation just sounds better. There are differences though; Inspired by and inspired to are two very different things.
Inspired BY is when something happens that wakes you up. Gets the neurons in your brain firing. being inspired by is an evocative response. It’s when start to ‘feel it’. It’s the thought that runs around in your mind that you can’t let go of.
Inspired TO is when you go past the point of thinking about it, and start taking action. This is the “motivation” you keep looking for. By moving beyond thinking about it, and actually taking action. THIS is what you should be aiming for.
That’s why the new gym membership doesn’t motivate you to go and work out.
This is why that business coach telling you their ‘process’ will make you 6-figures by the end of the year doesn’t help your business. (Do you really want to earn 6-figures doing what they do? No. I didn’t think so)
This is the reason behind everything else that you’ve told yourself you should be doing, won’t work. It’s because you don’t really want to.
Break the habit
Instead of looking externally for motivation, and convincing yourself of what you should be motivated to do, start looking internally. Start listening to your subconscious. That voice in the back of your mind; that feeling that something feels right/wrong. Once you start listening to that, you’ll start learning what truly inspires you… you’ll see what you’re inspired by and that will lead to being inspired to… Inspired to do the things you love.
That’s when you’ll stop looking for motivation.
Use the energy you get when you’re feeling inspired.
Instead of telling that niggling voice in the back of your mind that you should/n’t be doing x, y, z… LISTEN to it. Use it.
People have been telling me for years that I should be working in a certain industry, or doing video content for my marketing…
I don’t want to work in those industries because they don’t interest me. Just because I’m good at doing something, shouldn’t mean that’s what I have to do, and neither should you! I won’t work at doing something I’m already good at because I won’t feel challenged by it, then I won’t be working at my best. I won’t bother trying to improve. The inspiration will have gone before I even started.
Also, I hate doing videos, I put it at the top of my list for so long, trying to push past it and get it done. Instead, I stopped. I stalled my business, didn’t allow it to grow. Why? Because I was waiting to feel ‘motivated’ to do videos… something I will never want to do because they don’t work for me. I’d rather write. I love writing! So instead, I’m listening to my inner voice and doing what I feel inspired to do. Hence, (if you got this far) you’re reading this.
Tell me… What is it you’re waiting to feel motivated to do? More importantly, what’s nagging at you, the voice in the back of your mind that won’t go away no matter how much you tell it to? Why aren’t you listening to it?
