I am sure you’ve heard it or probably said it yourself so often: „I would start going to the gym (or read more, learn something new, take care of myself more etc.)…but i just don’t have the motivation!”. Also during Q&A sessions successful people I follow are holding on IG, question being asked very often is: how do they find the motivation to do it all?
Answer to that question is very disappointing for many people, because simply – they don’t! Believe it or not , but they just get up in the morning and do their thing.
It seems like we think motivation is some supernatural power that comes to us on some days and it’s nowhere to be found on the others, and our ability to do anything depends purely on whether we have it or not. I believe it’s an excuse. We say „I would go to the gym but I just don’t have the motivation”, but what we actually mean, and do not want to admit is: „I should go to the gym but I’m just, well…lazy”.
When you use motivation as an excuse it feels like you don’t have to take responsibility , like the fact that you don’t do something is not your fault, because obviously you would do that…If only you had this motivation!
Let me share my thoughts on that issue : changing something or beginning something new in your life comes down to building a new habit. And this is good news, because it means that we have the control in our own hands, and we don’t have to wait for a motivation to come to us to be able to do something. The way we think about motivation can be compared to our ideas about talent – it’s something you whether have or not, and it determines whether or not you are able to achieve success. Well, apparently there is a research showing that effort, practice and learning are far more important than talent! So again, it’s not some superpower that makes people achieve big things, but their hard work and many, MANY hours of practice.
And how to build a habit? Repeat the same activity daily until it becomes a routine. Start small, for example with drinking a glass of water first thing in the morning. If it’s not something you normally do, you will have to think about it, maybe leave a note for yourself on your nightstand, but the longer you do it, the more natural it will become and eventually you will empty that glass without even thinking about it. Give it a try! According to 21/90 rule, if you repeat activity for 21 days it becomes a habit. If you continue for another 90 days it should become permanent lifestyle change. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? If it still feels like to much effort, the question that should be asked is : how bad do I really want it?
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