Motivation myth

While having lunch with my son Callan recently he proclaimed, “Mum, I think motivation is a myth”.  He went on to explain that he doesn’t believe motivation is what enables us to get started, but rather a feeling that builds when we achieve forward momentum or a sense of progress. 

Being the proud parent I am, I took a moment to enjoy the wisdom of my child.  

Waiting to feel motivated before getting going, is a common reason the people I work with struggle to turn their dreams into reality.  Like many of the conversations Callan and I have, I was inspired to explore further how we can become motivated when we really can’t be bothered doing what we know we should or need to.  

That exploration led me to the work of Jeff Haden, the author of The Motivation Myth; how high achievers really set themselves up to win.  Haden writes “I thought motivation was a prerequisite to starting … – a spark necessary to get me going.  But motivation is really a result.  Motivation is the fire that starts burning after you manually, painfully, coax it into existence, and it feeds on the satisfaction of seeing yourself make progress.”   

There are many moments in life when we need to stop thinking, planning or talking and simply start doing.  Reflect for yourself how often getting started has been the hardest part of achieving an outcome.   

Author and motivational speaker Mel Robbins offers one simple but powerful way to step past procrastination, avoidance or any other mental barrier to getting out of the starting blocks - The 5 second rule.   

Count backwards; “5-4-3-2-1” and take action.  This simple strategy can have a powerful impact on getting your brain focused on the task at hand and distract you from the excuses we give ourselves.  Put simply The 5 Second Rule helps us to override the tendency we all have to talk ourselves out of things. 

According to Robbins, “The moment you have an instinct to act on a goal you must 5-4-3-2-1 and physically move or your brain will stop you.” “Your feelings don’t matter. The only thing that matters is what you do”. 

So as Nike reminds us, Just do it.