Motivation is overrated

That‘s right: I said it. Surrounded by motivational quotes and inspirational stories, we tend to de facto believe that achieving success requires finding our drive, that miraculous momentum pushing us to accomplish more. Well, in truth, feeling inspired is not only NOT required to achieve meaningful deeds, it might actually be a trap. On that, let me explain why I don‘t consider motivation an essential asset for success and what you can do to better guarantee it.

Motivation is fickle

First, we all imagine motivation as those surprising and unexpected rush of passion, when we are all fired up and feel we can achieve everything. And that is exactly the problem with it: motivation is a fickle mistress. It fluctuates, one time rushing, to be fleeting the next. Relying too much on it inevitably to inconsistent progress and effort. Even the most motivated people cannot guarantee that they will be motivated every single day. In that way, delays and false hopes of “waiting for the right moment“ (that never comes) often don‘t amount to too much. Even worse, such passive and unfulfilling moments might quench your inspiration altogether. Fortunately, we can compensate for what motivation lacks: consistency.

Reliable alternatives exist

We need to remember that motivation is only one way to be driven to achieve great things. Much more reliable and powerful alternatives are available to us if we know how to use external factors to our advantage. Curating your environment is key to bolstering your drive. Having access to a stress-free and distraction-free personal space for your work will do wonders to promote your progress. Making sure that relevant resources are within reach will also smooth out the mental effort needed to push forward, boosting productivity and focus. In a writing context, this could mean building a cozy writing alcove in your home, putting in your favourite soothing music or having a couple of open dictionaries or thesaurus opened next to you. To keep on track, leaning on your community for support is another excellent alternative. Being part of a community that shares your goals can provide irreplaceable encouragement, but also a sort of accountability to your commitment.

Possibly the best way to guarantee consistent action is to build the right habits. Habits, when learned, exploit our subconscious. These are a sort of cheat code, making us commit effort without even thinking or realizing it. This technique is formidable but requires an initial push to adopt. In general, it takes about 3 weeks to settle into a habit, whatever it is. Worth it, when you consider that most habits can last years with minimal recurrent conscious commitment.

It‘s a symptom, not a cause

Moreover, the origin and role of motivation is often misunderstood. Motivation does not, I repeat, DOES NOT guarantee progress. Even with the best of intentions and the most powerful drive you can still fail to make headway. In reality, motivation is an indicator of progress. Psychologically, progressing your goals triggers a positive feedback loop sparking a sense of accomplishment. Such emotional rewards reinforce behaviour, making the next loop faster and easier. Motivation therefore builds in a cycle. Even with small initial progress, discomfort decreases. Relying solely on motivation in the start is then putting the cart before the horse. Start by doing. This will only make the drive and accomplishment even stronger.

Getting to the finish line

In the end, motivation is in no way a detrimental feeling. As fleeting as it is, this spark can truly help you reach farther and better than ever before. Only, waiting for motivation is a death sentence, not only for what you want to accomplish, but to feel motivated in the first place. Building the right habits and routines that don‘t rely on motivation will be more consistently effective. Such discipline will help you better capitalize on when you feel motivation and, even, make those moments more frequent. Besides, motivated or not, you showed enough commitment to reach the end of this blog post. There as to be value in that.

See you tomorrow.