Reverse the Equation of Motivation
A firm daily practice takes some motivation to get going, but over time, the equation is reversed; dedicating yourself to a firm daily practice is what builds motivation.
Our constant practice of action alters our mood, taking a cue from our behavior.
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Conventional wisdom states our motivation leads us to perform an action.
Our feelings and motivation do guide us, but there is a way to change our mental state, our mood. The way is Action itself.
While it is difficult to control our thoughts and feelings, it is entirely possible to control our external behavior and change our mood.
Mood follows action. This could be as simple as forcing yourself to exercise, run errands, or get dinner with a friend when you're feeling particularly low.
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While controlling your thoughts and emotions has been long claimed to be extremely challenging, if not impossible, controlling your behaviour falls into a completely different category.
Consequently, while forcing yourself at the very beginning into adopting a routine that involves practicing, doing, may turn out to be quite challenging, you will notice how in time, the routine itself will start building up your motivation to go on with the ‘doing’.
It is often believed that action needs to be preceded by motivation, which is preceded by inspiration. Not at all. It's the opposite: Action provides the Inspiration that gets you Motivated.
Your actions create the emotional reactions to motivate your future actions.Not the other way around.
- Mastery experiences: Convince yourself about your capability by completing small but difficult tasks using deliberate practice.
- Vicarious experiences: Observe and be with people doing the tasks you want to do successfully. Find mentors and guides that push you towards your success.
- Social persuasion: Create opportunities for review and feedback in an earlier stage of the project, ensuring it is sincere.
- Our emotional state: Remove stressful thoughts and focus on being effective and positive by changing your inner voice.