We like the word motivation. It sounds serious and professional. But what does it really mean? It boils down to excitement and enthusiasm. If you're really motivated, you're really hyped up. Don't think I'm exaggerating. If an image of sports fans with painted faces comes to mind--good--that's what you want! Those fans drive from all over the country to watch a game they could see on TV. That takes enthusiasm and excitement. That takes getting hyped up. Those people have gotten themselves motivated. If you want to succeed in every area of your life, you have to take that kind of passion into every area of your life.
Improvement vs Perfection
Perfection is a motivation killer. If you have to be perfect, you are going to fail. Why would you bother starting if you know you're going to fail? You simply wouldn't waste the time or energy.
Now let's look at our sports fan. Why would a sports fan travel three states to go to a game for a team with a losing season? Most won't. The one who does has convinced himself his team can win. He tells himself that his team will have fewer penalties, have fewer mistakes, score more points and put up a better defense than they have at previous games and all of that gives him hope that they can win this game. He's focused on the team's ability to improve regardless of past failure.
The same needs to be true in your work. Can you improve? Can you learn from your mistakes? Of course you can!! When you focus on improvement, you know you can succeed at that gives you motivation to try. When you improve, you get closer to perfection. When the goal is improvement, then you don't fail when you don't reach perfection. Put your energy into improving every day by just a little bit and you might even find success comes long before perfection.
End in Mind Mentality
Today, in the moment, surrounded by incomplete projects and tasks, is hard and overwhelming. If that's all you can see, that's as far as you will get. Your motivation will get buried underneath the mounds of frustration that collapse on you. If you want to stay motivated, you have to see where you're going. What benefit is there in going forward?
Back to our fan: That's a really long trip to get to a game. That's a lot of time stuck in a car. If he focuses on how uncomfortable it is behind the wheel and how heavy traffic is, he's going to forget why he thought it was such a good idea to make the drive. After all, the tickets might have been expensive, but not as expensive as the tickets and the gas and the food and the hotel room...and there's no line at the bathroom in his house...and...and...and...but our fan isn't focused on all those things. He's thinking about how great the game is going to be. It's about the experience of actually being there and cheering for his team where they can actually hear it. He might not be excited about the drive across three states, but he is excited about that game and he'll keep driving to get what he's excited about.
Don't get caught up in the here and now when you haven't reached where you're going. It's going to take some work. It might not all be pleasant. The benefits come after the work. The benefits come after the unpleasantness. Keep the end in mind and you can get through anything in your way.
Physically Release Your Stress
Stress is like shaking a 2-liter of pop. There lots of energy there, but it's absolutely useless. If you try to open that bottle, it's just going to overflow and make a mess of everything. It's possible to have so much bottled up energy that you can't be productive. At the same time, you're an emotional mess and feel too tired to accomplish anything.
What would our fan do about stress? He'd probably cheer or yell (a lot). He might jump up and down, give high fives, do celebration dances, throw a ball back and forth, run around the car...you get the idea. He's physically exerting that energy into something that doesn't have to be productive. Fans start cheering before the game even starts. They're not just cheering for the team. They're cheering because it feels good to get it out. Even though they are using up physical energy, they are more mentally energized for the exertion.
Same thing goes when trying to get motivated to get things done. When that stressed out burned out feeling starts to take over, get up! Get out of your seat. If you need to give a war cry to get yourself psyched up to work, then give a war cry. If you need to run five miles, then do it. Physical exertion improves your emotional state and reduces that excess energy that was impairing your mental state. What level of exertion you need will depend on your level of stress. If you're stalled by stress on a regular basis, add exercise to your schedule. I know you're busy, but physically releasing your stress more than compensates for lost time with increased productivity.
The fan is the most motivated person on the planet. They are driven by excitement and passion. The are motivation for other people to try their best. (e.g. "I can't disappoint my fans.") When things look bad, they focus on improvement. When the journey's long, the focus on the destination. When they get stressed, they let it out. Be a fan of getting things done. Get hyped up!
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