“Motivation alone is not enough.If you have an idiot and you motivate him,now you have a motivated idiot.” – Jim Rohn
I haven’t been doing as well as I had hoped I would studying for the GMAT. I find myself extremely rusty at math and english and it is definitely showing. I realize it just takes a little bit of practice and that’s not the hard part, the hard part is the motivation to do so. From all of my fellow classmates who have thought about doing the GMAT, many have not for the same reason I procrastinated for so long, a lack of motivation. We all make good money, there’s no deadlines, there’s no added incentive, no bonus, no nothing. We went through the school thing and it was hell on earth, and now we’ve been out in the workforce a mere 2.5 years, let us enjoy the freedom of now. And that is totally understandable, but what if you wanted more challenge? To take on bigger, harder, newer things? How do you motivate yourself to do that?
Motivation is a powerful tool to get you started on something. Ask yourself the question, “Where is my leverage?”. If you are overweight and you don’t wish to be anymore, that’s your leverage. If you are alone and wish to find a loving partner, that’s your leverage. If you are intelligent but work for a knucklehead boss, that’s your leverage. Use the leverage. When I first started rock climbing, I excelled pretty quickly. It was only on my second or third time climbing that I tackled a 5.10a, no easy task for beginners. I felt that climbing practice was enough to get better, and so that’s what I did. But my partner was busting his butt off in the gym and soon found himself surpassing me on the wall. Ah yes, my leverage right there, nothing like healthy competition. That was enough motivation for me to wake up a half hour earlier every morning to workout. Its about finding the leverage to give you the motivation to become your best self.
If you’ve got great ideas, use them. Don’t let them fade away because there’s a lack of motivation to start. Most people have no trouble starting things, its finishing that’s the problem. Do you know anybody like that? Great starters, poor finishers. Maybe you can relate to it yourself. Not sure what type of leverage you can use? Perhaps you need to sit down and write out some of your goals and aspirations. Or, you could watch the movie “Revolutionary Road”, the new movie by Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. I can tell you one thing about the movie, after I watched it I had enough leverage to tell me to never be like that in my life. Although I already knew it, it was a nice reminder 😉
Sometimes it takes a swift kick in the pants or a role model to find motivation. Maybe you were inspired by some great piece of art, or a friend who is currently doing really well for themselves. Whatever it is, use it to your advantage and get the ball rolling. You’ll find that once you have the ball rolling you’ll have a good momentum to carry forward with your actions. Sometimes you won’t see the fruits of your labour for many years. Sometimes you may never see it. But that definitely shouldn’t deter you from trying. How can you help others motivate themselves? Encourage them and support them to find the things that they wish to do. I get sad when I hear people slink away from their dreams because they have “too many responsibilities” now. Sadly, I know far too many people in that position and I wish I didn’t. Of course, we don’t believe those lies for a second. We know better 🙂