Why We Fear Motivation

Motivation is a myth. In 'The Motivation Myth' by Jeff Haden this idea is brought about because we only need motivation to do the things that we don’t want to do. Usually, those are things which require a short -term pain for long-term gain. I.e. revision, working out or reading a book. We never say, “I need motivation to sit down and watch Netflix” or “I need motivation to go to a party”. We expect to conjure up a mysterious energy to do beneficial things. The way our human psychology works is we tend to overweigh short-term benefits rather than long-term benefits, ultimately leading to procrastination.

"Motivation is a sugar rush that never lasts" - Jeff Haden

Therefore, we should remove the word ‘motivation’ from our vocabulary and replace it with the concept of discipline. If you know you need to be doing something, you shouldn’t have to wait around for motivation to kick in and essentially feel like doing it when it’s too late, but rather, operate discipline and do what you need to do. The success and results you obtain from doing important tasks will naturally breed motivation. e.g. the physical results you get from consistency at the gym will motivate you to go tomorrow rather than relying and waiting on that mysterious burst of motivation to find its way around.

"Your only path to success is through a continuum of mundane, unsexy, unexciting, and sometimes difficult daily disciplines compounded over time." - Nick Wignall

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“Don’t complain about the snow on your neighbours’ roof when your doorstep is unclean”- Dale Carnegie

In ‘How To Win Friends & Influence People’, Dale Carnegie talks about the fundamental techniques in handling people and in order to achieve what you want, you must arose in other person an eager and want. Just because we enjoy oreos, doesn’t mean we bait a fishing hook with oreos, the same principle applies to people. Understand the other perspective of a situation and tend to their wants whilst showing them that your needs will benefit them.

You can’t win an argument. To get the best out of an argument, avoid it all together. 9/10 times and argument ends with each person being convinced that they’re absolutely right. Even if you win an argument, you lose. Why? Because you’ve made the other person feel inferior and hurt their sense of pride. The temporary, empty, sense of victory in comparison to the permanent, long term loss is not worth your energy.

"If you don’t set a baseline standard for what you’ll accept in life, you’ll find it easy to slip into behaviors and attitudes or a quality of life that’s far below what you deserve” – Tony Robbins

The harsh truth: nearly everything in your life right now – both positive and negative – is the result of your standards. What standard do you accept for yourself? Do not tolerate laziness, procrastination, bad habits, a toxic social environment. Accepting these things is narrowing the path to the life you want to live. By having a floor of standard for yourself which you cannot fall below, the only way is up.

RAISE YOUR STANDARDS - the ‘fundamental catalyst for change’ – Jari Roomer

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