Stop Looking For Motivation

I think people should stop looking for motivation.

I was talking with a friend the other night and she mentioned that she wishes she was motivated. She’s hardly alone in this thinking. There are places like r/getmotivated and 99u putting out articles and images every day about being motivated and “13 ways to find your motivation.” Don’t forget that during our schooling and tertiary education we’re told to be motivated and get our work done by finding motivation.

Motivation is a fickle thing. We can talk about finding it all we want but really things don’t get done because of motivation things get done because you do it regardless of whether or not you want to. It’s easy to blame an external force and say “oh I don’t have any motivation today” but really what you and I need to do if we want to get things done and improve is do them.

If it’s boring, do it.

If it’s frustrating, do it.

If it needs to be done, do it.

Being able to take a step no matter how small is a very important thing to do and something we should do regardless of whether or not we can grasp this vague concept of motivation. It is important to know that just because you don’t want to do something doesn’t mean you’re a bad person, knowing when to pull out of a task or idea is just as important as taking the first step.

I want you to change your attitude and start getting things done regardless of how motivated you feel to do it. It’s easy for us to sit here and talk about it but I’m putting out the challenge to myself and others that we can get things done if all we do is take a hundred small steps, one at a time. I am not expecting you to change your entire life today but pick something whether it’s going for a run, drawing a sketch or even drinking more water and give it a go regardless of how you feel.