Everyone wants to accomplish great things, or at least most people do. Most people have no problem coming up with good ideas, what they lack is the motivation to actually do the things they want to do.
You see, the problem with that is that you wait for motivation to come to you. Sometimes you might get started, but then you wait and wait and wait until an emotion spurs the motivation you need to get to work. The reason why that method is so fruitless is because the emotions you’re relying upon for motivation aren’t always there when you need them.
Something has to happen to inspire those motivating feelings. Some people watch YouTube videos, or they listen to some music to pump them up, and what happens is that the emotion doesn’t always come, and they end up accomplishing next to nothing. I know; I’ve been there.
Everyone wants to be something. Like an artist, or a musician, or an athlete, but most people rely on fickle emotions as fuel to drive them to that destination, and so few people make it to where they want to be.
Stop relying on emotions. Just start moving.
Most people are blocked by the same thing: fear of the unknown. They wait until an emotion more powerful than fear finally arises and then they finally do something.
We are afraid of exercising because we don’t know how to workout, and we fear embarrassment from looking awkward. We fear starting on that project we’ve been putting off for months because we don’t know what to do, and we are afraid we will mess it up.
We don’t start because we are afraid of what we don’t know. Ironically, the only way to figure it out is to start doing something. Get moving. You have to actually start doing something to start figuring out what you need to do. You need to mess up and learn and figure out what works, but you never get anywhere if you don’t actually do anything.
Motion creates emotion. In Part 1, we discussed how the action is what creates the feelings of motivation. If you act, motivation will follow because you finally did something, and that feels like a win in itself, and wins, however small, inspire more action and soon enough you start generating your own motivation by simply moving towards what you want. You have to act. You have to do.
Once you get moving and you actually complete a task associated with your goal, you will start figuring out what you need to do and the unknown becomes less intimidating, and that fear will start to vanish little by little and will eventually it will be replaced by excitement and inspiration.
Once you start learning by receiving feedback from the actions you take, and you start developing a skill, or you figure out something you were previously worried about, then you start developing an understanding and your fear will begin to fade.
I used to take on art projects and procrastinate for days because I didn’t know how to start. What’s funny is that all I needed to do to get motivation for my creative process was to start with anything.
As soon as I started sketching an outline or I started picking out the colors I wanted to use, all these ideas started popping up in my head, and after about an hour I would have something I would’ve never expected on my canvas, and then I wouldn’t want to stop working on it because I was so excited with my progress. All I needed was to get moving.
Progress is inspiring, and the only way to create progress is to take action and receive some kind of result. The result generates motivation.
One of the tools I use to get moving is the 3 second rule. The way you used the 3 second rule is that you decide on what you are going to do, and then you count to 3 and get moving. What’s awesome about the 3 second rule is that most of the time the reason why we don’t get moving towards our goals is because we overthink everything.
We think we need to plan more, or research more, and all of a sudden we find ourselves lost in a 4 hour internet search vortex and we have nothing to show for it but more confusion and frustration. The project still hasn’t seen any progress. The planning and research are more useful once you’ve actually done something and you figure out what direction you need to go in next.
When you feel yourself about to hesitate because you’re afraid, or you’re starting to overthink, count to 3 and start moving.
The next time you’re supposed to go to the gym and you find yourself thinking about all the fit people you think are judging you, or you start thinking about how you should buy different workout clothes or shoes first, or you start cooking up whatever lame excuses you can come up with, stop, count to 3, and get moving.
What do you have to do first? Decide, count to 3, and start moving. Walk to your closet and put on your workout clothes. If you start spiraling again, count to 3 and grab your keys and walk to your car. If you get to your car and start doubting yourself, count to 3 and turn it on and start driving.
When you get to the gym and think ‘what am I doing, I’m just a loser’, count to 3 and open your car door and walk into the gym. If you get to the weight room and you start freaking out again, count to 3 and grab a weight and start lifting, and before you know it your workout will be done and you’ll be happy you went.
And I guarantee you will have ideas about what you want to do next time, or you’ll be excited to get better at one of the lifts you tried out, and you’ll be more likely to go again all because you finally got there and did the thing.
You can use the 3 second rule for anything you need to do. Just count to 3 and get yourself moving and once you do, you’ll realize that there was never really any good reason for hesitation anyways.
Another useful part of the ‘get moving’ principle is to break everything into pieces. All big projects or goals can be broken down into smaller tasks, and all you really have to do is to get started working on one of those tasks and accomplish something small to get motivated to keep going. Figure out what that small task is, and then count to 3 and get moving.
Small wins inspire more action. When you win at something small, you get motivated to keep going. Action creates motivation and motivation inspires more action, and before you know it, you have created your own self-motivation generator. Break down big things into small, actionable steps and get moving.
Stop relying on emotions to get you going. Use the backwards law and reverse-engineer motivation by acting first. If you are unfamiliar with the backwards law, its basically this: the more you desperately try for something, the more that thing evades you, while letting go of that thing or accepting the opposite often creates the desired effect.
Instead of desperately hoping for the motivation to accomplish something, DO SOMETHING and the motivation will come. That is the backwards law in effect; that is the principle that using motion to create emotion is based upon.
The awesome thing about action is that it is always accessible. You can always do something, even if it’s not life-changing or super impressive. The inconsistent “motivation” emotions aren’t always there when you need them, so don’t rely on them to get started. Get started, get moving, and those tricky “motivation” emotions will follow.
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Related Content:
How to Get Motivated: Motion Creates Emotion
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