Motivation Is A Trap. Here’s Why…
As an entrepreneur, I am always asked how I stay motivated all the time. Running multiple businesses, working out 5-6 times a week, getting to sleep early and following an 80/20 diet seems like second nature to me, but those within my community have asked how I ‘stick to it’. By far the most common question I am asked is in relation to motivation and specifically how to stay motivated when you don’t feel like doing things. But — spoiler alert — very little about what I achieve in my personal life or business relies on me being motivated to get it done.
In fact, just like you, I rarely feel motivated to do the boring, mundane or difficult tasks that must be completed each day. Quite frankly, if I relied on feeling motivated to do the things that are essential for my personal or business growth, I doubt I would never do them! I think motivation is a trap and in this post I share 5 tips on what I do instead to improve your motivation muscle.
5 Tips On How To Stay Motivated:
Motivation is a trap - stop looking for it to start taking action.
If you’re always waiting to feel motivated to get ‘stuff’ done, there’s a strong chance you’ll never do it. When we rely on motivation, we aren’t holding ourselves accountable for our actions. Instead we blame our lack of progress on a lack of motivation, instead of looking at our own behaviour and habits and taking responsibility for our actions, or lack thereof.
Stop looking for motivation or some special sign to start taking action on the ‘stuff’ you know you should be doing, want to be doing or changes you know you need to make in order to achieve a life or business goal.
In my experience, each individual step towards the ‘stuff’ you wish to improve in life is what drives, feeds and fuels motivation. Small daily actions and habit changes compound over time to generate results, which in return generates enthusiasm and pushes you to go further in the right direction. Here are my suggestions on how you can take daily action rather than waiting for motivation to strike:
Tip #1. Work on what you love and do things for the right reason.
One of the main reasons that am so ‘motivated’ to work and get things done all the time is because I actually love what I do. Both working within interior design e-commerce and creating content that helps other people are two things that I am obsessed with. I actually view building my businesses as a game with myself, one that I love to play.
However, I also try and live by example to those who are in my community. I’m not a guru, or some kind of super human creature - I’m just a woman who is doing my best to juggle a busy life (full of ups and downs) and share what I’m learning along the way.
If I were simply building my business or creating content just because I was trying to make money, then there is no way that I could keep up the pace and have the stamina that I do for my work.
The other thing I have are clear goals that I want to achieve.
I know the things I’m working towards in my life and business and having those milestones helps me stay focused and motivated. When I build out my goals I make sure to break them down into smaller, manageable tasks and I always create a step by step plan of action that I know will help me get there. This way, I am always progressing and pushing forward, even on days when I don’t feel like it (which happens to me regularly!).
If you do struggle with motivation, perhaps question yourself as to whether the goals or projects you are working on are actually things you really care about. A mentor once asked me, “Catherine, what keeps you up at night? Are goals associated with a ‘why’ so strong that it keep you awake at night?” That definitely got me thinking…
Your apparent lack of motivation could be coming from the fact that you are doing things to make other people happy or you are doing things for the wrong reasons, such as trying to make money by doing something you don’t actually enjoy.
The biggest secret to motivation? It’s not to rely on motivation to strike in order to get things done. Instead, focus on building habits and systems that encourage you to take daily action.
Tip #2. Have a list of daily non-negotiables.
Honestly, there are numerous tasks within my business that are really boring. They definitely wouldn’t be completed if I waited to feel ‘motivated’ to do them. But I know I need to do them in order for my business to grow. So, I have different ways of getting these completed.
No fancy planners, diaries or apps… just a list of daily non-negotiables. This system has helped with my daily consistency and discipline for years. My non-negotiables is a list of tasks that must complete every single day, whether I feel like doing them or not. It’s not even a conversation I have with myself, this list must be ticked off every. single. day.
Here’s what my list of daily non-negotiables looks like as of writing this post (I am always tweaking this list). This is built out inside Notion as part of my Daily Method of Operation dashboard.
You can get a hold of this here if you’re interested.
Tip #3. Confirm when you’ll complete your non-negotiable each day.
Whether it’s a busy day or quiet one, whether I’m travelling or at home, my list of non-negotiables has to get done every day. As a solo business owner, I don’t really take ‘time off’ when I am travelling, whether seeing family, in the Caribbean or on a quick weekend jaunt in Europe. To ensure the tasks get done, even whilst away, I wake up earlier or find a one hour period in the afternoon to focus on my non-negotiables.
Rather than complaining in my head that I’m away, and ought to have a break, I view my non-negotiables as a priviledge to complete. I think to myself how lucky I am that I have a business that allows me freedom, flexibility and purpose, and as a result, I owe it to myself, my customers and community to complete the tasks.
Ideally, I get this list completed early in the morning when I am away, which means they are completed for the day. This allows me to spend the rest of my day relaxing, spending time with family or exploring.
At home, I have a specific time of the day where I tend to complete these tasks — normally it’s later in the day when I’m feeling tired and don’t want to do difficult ‘thinking’ work. And if the list of tasks hasn’t been done before the end of the day (which is rare) then I make myself do them late at night if I need to. I won’t go to bed until the list is completed and ticked off and that’s the way that bit by bit I’ve built my successful business.
They are called daily non-negotiables for a reason…
It’s not negotiable about whether they get done and they have to be done daily!
Tip #4. Be the person who does the things you say you’re going to do.
Identify yourself as being a someone who does the things you say you’re going to do. Ever heard someone say: “I’ll believe it when I see it”? Reverse that. Believe it and then you’ll see it. The moment you think, act and show up as the person who is disciplined, motivated and successful, your habits and actions will start to follow.
Personally, I identify as being disciplined, consistent and maintaining good habits. This is something that is not only built into my character, but what I tell myself every day to train that muscle of becoming a consistent, disciplined person.
Exercising every day is never a question of whether I ‘feel’ like it. You don’t ‘feel’ like brushing your teeth twice a day, but you do it anyways. I attribute the same concept to my workouts and business — feelings are irrelevant, being sore is irrelevant and being tired is irrelevant. Moving my body and generating endorphins as a result is a non-negotiable. My workouts are scheduled in my calendar a week in advance and I go to them whether I ‘feel’ like it or not. They are habits in my routine.
Tip #5. Surround yourself with positive ideas + people
Spend enough time with four lazy people and you’ll be the fifth lazy person. Spend enough time with four highly successful, focused and energised people and you’ll be the fifth. Who you spend time with regularly affects you, your goals and your business in ways that I don’t think many people quite realise.
If you want to be motivated to achieve your goals in life, think long and hard about who you are hanging around with and what you are consuming, such as TV shows, podcasts or other stuff in your information diet.
If all you are hearing is a negative, complaining family member and watching the (very negative) news, then you’re not likely to feel all that motivated. You’ll probably in fact feel far from motivated and will feel depleted, negative and anxious.
Sometimes removing yourself or just limiting yourself from negative people can be difficult, especially if it’s a close friend or even a family member, but only you are in control of what floats around your bubble.
If finding positivity in your life is difficult, start by looking for it elsewhere. For example, you can follow people on social media who provide you with motivation through their own example. You could try listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos that inspire you to be a better version of yourself. Or, you could find a community, online or in-person, that you can join to meet others share similar goals.
Seeing the progress and success of others can be a source of inspiration and motivation for us. ‘If she can do it, so can I’. Positive people who are working hard towards their own goals can serve as an example and help us stay motivated to work towards ours. I find that surrounding myself with positive people and positive ideas is an effective way to stay motivated.
As a side note, I also gave up watching or reading the news a number of years ago and that has helped a lot as well. Almost nothing in the news impacts me on a day to day basis and almost all of it is negative. If I ever need to know about an important world event, my partner tells me or I see it all over social media anyway. In my opinion, by foregoing the news, you’ll immediately remove a negative element from your information diet and you will save yourself some time you can put towards something more productive and positive.
So, what’s the key takeaway? Stop relying on motivation to strike, as it rarely will. Instead, focus on building strong habits and systems that will encourage you to take action towards your goals. And as you take that action you will build confidence, make progress and ultimately start to identify as a person who does the things that they say they are going to do.
