Finding Your Motivation

I have never considered myself disciplined.  Ask my mother how disciplined I was as a child and she could recount story after story of procrastination on homework assignments, brushing my teeth, or cleaning my room.  She literally would have to turn on the lights in my room and steal my blankets to get me out of bed in the morning.  So you can imagine my surprise when someone recently lamented that they wish they could be as disciplined as me.  Knowing that I was not a disciplined person in the classic sense, I replied "I'm not disciplined, I'm just motivated."

I have figured out that finding motivation for an activity or habit is key to getting my lazy behind to do something that I know is good for me, but don't really want to do.  There are certain things that I need no motivation for like eating and watching T.V., but my life would be uneventful and rather useless if I stuck to the things that I needed no motivation for.  Here are a few things I have learned in my road to "discipline".

• Your willpower is greatest in the morning.  If you think of willpower as a battery, your battery gets charged overnight and you are likely to make the best choices in the morning.  Toward the end of the day you run out of willpower and can end up making terrible decisions.  I do it all the time, that is why I pray, exercise, and decide what I will eat for the day before I head off to work.  Check out the book "What The Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast" for more insights on this.
• When you get motivated to do something, do it.  I am writing this blog post a week before my deadline because I am motivated now and likely won't be a week from now.  Warning - It will take less willpower to get your project started, but it may take some willpower to finish.  Make sure you finish or at least come to a natural stopping point in the process.  You can't always rely on your natural motivation to get you moving so when you have it, use it.
• Get inspired.  Surround yourself with things that will inspire you.  I listen to many audio books and podcasts to inspire me and, in turn, motivate me to action in some area of my life. I even watch certain inspirational television programs to motivate me in some way.  The Biggest Loser gets me inspired to eat right and exercise and a show like the X Factor inspires me to get out my guitar and practice or write a song.  The next time you feel inspired to do something, take note of what inspired you and surround yourself with similar inspiration.
• Set goals for yourself.  Get inspired and then set some goals.  Write them down and put them in a place where you have to look at them.  I use my mirror next to my bed because it is the first thing I see in the morning and the last I see at night.  Make sure they are SMART goals. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-Based, and Time Bound.  I want to also mention that they should be your own because you will almost never accomplish the goals of someone else.  I set goals annually in 7 areas of my life: Career, Financial, Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Family, and Social.  If you are just getting started with setting goals, set a smaller goal to get a quick win and that accomplishment will move you to an even bigger goal.

Now you just need to take some time to figure out what you want your life to look like and what things you would like to achieve.  Once you have that figured out, find your motivation and  get to work.

UPDATE:  I recently taught a seminar on this very subject called "Where's My Motivation?".  It goes into more depth and there are even real life examples.  Just click the links below:
    Where's My Motivation - Audio
    Where's My Motivation - Handout

I also recently wrote a post about goal setting called "Setting Goals That Matter"