Find Motivation by taking action

Do you sometimes look around and everyone seems mega motivated, fist pumping their way through life and you shake your head as you think “where do they find their motivation?”.

Spoiler - it isn’t at your front door waiting for you or sprinkled on your breakfast cereal.

The good news though is, that in a world full of wellness and mindset hacks, it is relatively straightforward. They find it by taking action, even when they are not in the mood, or as I like to say ‘when I can’t be bothered’.

You build trust in yourself when you still take action, even when you can’t be bothered. You are taking a step toward the person you want to be, until you slowly become that person. You are making a vote and signaling to yourself, that you are an action taker. Reinforcing that action leads to a positive impact.

Another spoiler, even though you will develop motivation and momentum by taking action, it doesn’t make the ‘I can’t be bothered’ voice disappear. It makes it have less power over you though. You will look at all the times when you couldn’t be bothered but you took action anyway, and where you were grateful for taking action. You are reinforcing why being an action taker is always the right choice. You are improving your body, mind, and soul. Our minds won’t automatically register this though. It will go into the ‘that was a one off’ or ‘that wasn’t worth it’ narrative. It doesn’t want you to be an action taker, a go-getter. It wants you to be a comfy on the couch kind of person, where it is controlling you by keeping you safe. Being an action taker could lead to discomfort and our minds don’t like this.

The next time you feel that feeling of “where is my motivation”, you know from taking action before that by taking the smallest, simplest, step forward you slowly flow into doing the thing. Like magic.

We are creatures of comfort who don’t want to feel uncomfortable. We want to stay small, stuck, in our day to day routine of waking up, keeping our heads down, out of trouble, and getting to bedtime unscathed. We don’t want to exert more energy than needed.

It’s a game. A game of three parts.

1.       Awareness. Your primitive mind will kick in when you are attempting to try something where the process or outcome is uncertain, or where you may feel discomfort.

2.       Action. Identifying the smallest, simplest step you can take to tip yourself from non action, procrastination mode, into taking action. Going for a run starts with putting on your trainers, then you are out the front door and pounding the streets.

3.       Reinforcing the benefits of taking action. How did you feel completing the exercise class? Trying a new recipe? Joining a new community? Connect taking action  to a positive feeling. Did it make you calmer, stronger, excited, intrigued, excited, empowered, connected. Flood your body and mind with that feeling – connected to the action you took to drive the outcome. When I put on my shoes (small step) I end up running (action) and at the end of the run I feel invigorated. The anticipation feeling of invigoration will tip you into action. ‘When I take action and put my shoes on, I end up running which leads to me feeling invigorated’. Sign me up!

So, especially on a Monday, when you have a gym session planned in, that ‘I can’t be bothered’ voice is going to be on loudspeaker. We associate a Monday with the day we ease back into the working week. Your mind will be in full self-sabotage mood, talking you out of that gym session. But you remind yourself of how you felt after your last session. You flood your body with the feelings – strength, control, a clear mind – and your mind fires the excitement we need to feel, to tip us into action.

It is a game.

Before a holiday your mind fires up the feeling of excitement as you remind yourself of a previous holiday – the happy memories, ice cream, blue skies, and new experiences. That is what you need to do with motivation – remind yourself of the happy/positive thoughts associated with the thing you are seeking motivation for, a bit like tricking it, and the next thing you know you are tip toeing into action.

It really does work, trust me. As someone who isn’t a big fan of cleaning I flood my mind with ‘that’ feeling when you have blasted through your home tidying, cleaning, and freshening up your living environment. A cleansed, slightly smug, feeling. You feel in control, focused, and set up for the day, week, or weekend ahead. And how do I tip myself into action – I timebox my cleaning and pop on a podcast. As I clean, I learn and fully engage in the cleaning activity so it is over before I know it.

What are you waiting for?

Enjoy becoming aware of the narrative inside your head, identifying what action you can take, and then flooding your body and mind with the positive feeling from taking action. Then be an action taker, regardless.

Action creates change.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one.” ― Mark Twain