On Finding Motivation…

Everything is fueled by motivation.  Sleeping is motivated by being tired.  Going to the gym is motivated by being in shape.  Being in shape is motivated by concerns about health, attracting the opposite (or same) sex, enjoying the chemicals your body releases afterwards, hubris, and the list goes on.  You get the point.

Motivation can come from within or from others.  However, because I believe it is up to you to make yourself happy, I will be focusing on motivation from within.

What Makes You Tick

The trick to motivating yourself is to know why you do what you do.  You need to truly understand who you are and what you want out of life.  Once you know these two things, you are more apt to be able to tailor your days activities around achieving life goals while not betraying what makes you, you.

The statements above are awfully idealistic, and reading them kind of makes me sick even though they are of my own creation.  However, I feel that it is essential to break things down into the best case scenarios so you can slowly mold them into what actually is.  

Take me for example:

After going to college 13 states away from home and truly discovering who I am and what I want out of life, I should be able to  begin to mold my activities so that I accomplish my life goals.  However, my current situation does not allow for it.

Ideally, my day would go something like this:

1. Wake up around 5am
2. Go for a run with my German Shepherd (that I do not yet have), or hop on the rowing machine depending on how I feel
3. Make breakfast, and carry it across the street so I can eat it on the beach
4. Check my e-mail and do some work for the business that I own and operate myself 
5. Grab a burrito for lunch (burritos are the best!)
6. Do some more work until I get bored with it
7. Lift weights outside (like I used to at the boathouse when I was in college)
8. Hang out at the beach or with friends
9. Get all of my friends together and cook a big dinner that everyone enjoys
10. Watch some tube (gotta keep up on The Office, and Life)
11. Go to sleep

Somewhere in there would be a girlfriend, but I digress.  In reality, at least right now, my day can’t go anything like it should.  Here’s my day as it is right now:

1. Wake up at 5:00am
2. Cook and eat breakfast
3. Shower quickly
4. Drive an hour to work
5. Work 8 to 10 hours
6. Drive an hour home
7. Take a nap because I’m so damn tired from working and driving
8. Wake up at some point (I usually oversleep my 15 minute allotment)
9. Quickly make dinner
10. Rush to the gym and half-ass my workout because it’s almost 9:30 (that’s when the gym closes)
11. Sleep
12. Repeat and weep.

These two days are nothing like each other whatsoever.  That really sucks, but that’s the way it’s got to be for the meantime because like everyone, I have bills that that need to be paid.

Bottom line:  you need to know what you want out of life so you can try to accomplish it.

Reflect on Your Current Progress Toward That Goal

Now that you know what you know what you want out of life, you need to figure out how close you are to achieving your goal.

Looking at my ideal day, I already do the following:

1. Wake up around 5am
2. Make breakfast
3. Lift weights (when I get home)
4. Watch TV (about once a week)

Now all I need to do is the the rest, which hangs on the balance of me owning and operating my own business.  I’ve begun to work toward that by making websites in my spare time (although they are all half finished) including this one.  (Note: I don’t generate revenue from this website whatsoever yet, but I will be using Amazon’s affiliate program to link to music, movies, and books so be on the lookout.)

Bottom Line: Figure out how close you are to achieving your goal.

Find Motivation

This is the part of the process that gives most, especially myself, the most trouble.  My day is so hectic that I am always too tired to do anything about my dreams and goals, so I say that I will get to them tomorrow or over the weekend and yet I never do.

Dig real deep inside yourself and figure out why you want to do what you want in the first place.  In my case, I wouldn’t waste two hours of my life every day driving (although spending two hours in a Porsche daily isn’t as bad as you’d think).  I would also get to make a name for myself and be my own boss which is the most attractive part of my goal because I would get to do what I want when I want.

Ever heard of The Law of Attraction?  Basically it says that if you focus enough mental energy on imagining something you want then certain forces in the universe will make it happen.  Napoleon Hill made this idea famous in 1937 when he published his book Think and Grow Rich.  I’ve read most of the book, which is a fairly entertaining read, and what’s more, I find myself thinking about things I want more often than I used to.  For me, the Law of Attraction is a way to get myself accustomed with an idea or situation so that when it comes time to encounter it, I am not caught off guard.

Going back to motivation, you can use the Law of Attraction to your benefit by creating a vision board.  In a nutshell, a vision board is some medium that contains images of what you want to achieve (a collage for example).  By having a vision board you can always have a visual reaffirmation of the goals you hope to achieve, which should fill your head with positive thoughts toward them.  As time goes on your vision will likely change and so should your vision board because it is there to show you what you currently want out of life.  Sometimes when you get too busy you can forget what your REAL goals are and then stray from the path.  Personally I find that visual cues are the best way for me to get motivated because it puts a definite image of what will come in the future.

I will be making a page on this site that will serve as my personal vision board so be on the lookout for that.

In Summary

1. Figure out who you are and what you want
2. Figure out how close you already are to achieving your goal
3. Find motivation through a vision board (or some other method that works best for you)

Easier said than done, right?  I agree, but we all need a starting point and this is mine.  If you have a better idea please let me know.  As time goes on and my opinion changes, I will be sure to update this, but until then this is my plan.  Take it or leave it.