MOTIVATION ISN’T NECESSARY

Monday Motivation.

Actually, this isn’t about having motivation, it’s about not NEEDING motivation.

A lot of the time, I hear people explain how they are lacking motivation. How they are struggling to connect with the thing they need to do to get to the goal they want.

‘Why do you need motivation?’ I respond.

‘To do the work!’ They usually look at me like I’m an idiot. That to be able to sit down and do something they need to feel that surge of inspiration. They need to have a huge desire to do it.

What if I told you, they’re wrong?

I know, it sounds nuts. I also know it’s a LOT easier when we have that feeling, but it’s not necessary. We just have to do it.

There are some fine lines here. We don’t have to drive ourselves into the ground, and we don’t have to hate it whilst we do it. We just need to start. And to be kind to ourselves in the process. Allowing ourselves pauses, breaks, distance is totally fine and in fact really important, so long as it’s not fear hiding behind an excuse.

Sometimes we use the lack of motivation as a justification for not starting, but what we’re actually saying is ‘I’m scared’. The fear might be many things, but usually it’s a fear of not being good enough, or of failing. And so we procrastinate and put off starting because we don’t feel that wonderful feeling of inspiration. And then, because we have delayed our start, we self fulfil the prophecy, and we don’t do as good a job as we know we can, or we do indeed fail.

So we fail because we’re scared of failing. Seems a bit silly now doesn’t it?!

And so what we have to do is just start. Write one sentence. Draw one line. Read the first page. Commit to doing 15 minutes and no more. BE KIND to yourself in it. But just start.

It seems easier said than done, but for me, it’s a tried and tested measure of success. To get where I’ve got today, 4 years of Uni with all my other commitments has boiled down to this mantra.

JUST START, AND JUST KEEP SWIMMING.

Because you’ll never go anywhere without taking the first step.

Image available here: https://www.amourableart.com/products/just-keep-swimming

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