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Arrow Tip #58: Stop Waiting to Be Motivated

How often are you waiting to be motivated to do something? What are you procrastinating doing today? "I just haven't been motivated to _________." This phrase spills off our lips as if motivation is a necessary component to taking action. Guess what? It's not. Sure, it makes it a lot easier, no doubt. But it also causes us to put something off over and over. The next thing you know, you've wasted a whole lot of time and maybe ended up in an even worse position than you would have been had you just started the process.


This reminds me of trying to get a stalled car moving. It takes a lot of energy to get that heavy piece of machinery back in motion when it's stopped in the middle of the road. You need it moved out of the way. Now, you've got a couple of choices. You can either get going right now by putting it in neutral and manually start pushing, or instead, you can sit your butt down, wait for the tow truck to show up, and hope that it does so sooner rather than later. In the meantime, you might be causing unnecessary problems, chaos, and possibly an even bigger mess on the road, all of which could have been avoided had you just taken action immediately.


Putting something off until we feel motivated to do it is like waiting for a tow truck. Yes, it might feel easier, but who knows when it will come OR if it will come. And what are the consequences of that delay in action? If you decide to just get to it, you've saved yourself from unnecessary extra work, not to mention the discomfort of having it hanging over your head. I know it feels more challenging at the start, but the benefits kick in immediately, which means relief is on its way! And once you get it rolling, it's easy to keep it going. The hard part is only at the beginning.


Motivation is like a best friend. When they're around, events are more enjoyable. Of course, I'd rather go to the party with them. Heck, I may even rearrange my schedule for them! But sometimes they're busy or have plans of their own. I can't put my schedule on hold forever. Life waits for no man, as they say.


If there's something you want to do that you're putting off, there's a reason you want to do it, and there's a reason you're putting it off too. The reason you want to do it is you know it's going to benefit you in some way. You're only putting it off because it feels too hard right now to do it. The sooner you get to it, the sooner you will feel better. Don't be afraid to put out some energy at the start in order to save a lot more energy later. Either way, there's energy spent. Use less now, or pay more later. The sooner you get to it; the sooner relief is on its way. The hard part is getting into motion, but once you're rolling, it's easy to stay rolling. That's just pure physics.


Don't buy into the belief that you need to be motivated in order to do something. All you actually need is the decision to do so, and then you take action. Like Nike says...."Just Do It". Make it non-negotiable. (See Arrow Tip #54)


Why wait until you feel motivated to go to the gym, make that phone call, apologize to that person, break that addiction? I've got news...if it's been a long time coming, it's probably not coming anytime soon, if ever. And you don't need it anyway. Stop waiting for it. Start without it. TODAY.


 

ACTION STEPS:


  1. Remember, you don't have to be motivated in order to take action.

  2. Decide today to take action on whatever you've been putting off.

  3. JUST DO IT.



*Remember: YOU ARE UNSTOPPABLE!

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