Motivation: (n) The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.
Overrated: (adj) Rated or valued too highly.
When trying to create something amazing, one seeks some sort of motivation, ones found most people rely on it, its great, this feeling of fire and drive. Motivation is a wonderful thing to take advantage of when it strikes. It gives us unusual powers of focus and productivity. Motivation when it comes, usually lasts a day, a week or even months. Use that when it’s around. However, everyday is different, what happens when motivation decides to take a break, will you power through a certain task? would you have started something if motivation didn’t hit you in the first place?
Writing and weightlifting offers good example for this topic.
I can never tell that I will have a great workout if I didn’t go to the gym and at the same time, I wont be able to tell if I am going to hit a PR (personal record) if I didn’t try. In reality there will be a lot of shitty days, where motivation is nowhere to be found. Will you let motivation dictate your next move from here? of course not right?
Creative work is no different from weightlifting or training, most people cant really flip a switch for their creative juices to flow and just work on days were they feel creative and inspired.
Relying on motivation alone to carry you is not enough, motivation is based on emotions, and emotions can be unreliable and sometimes unstable. The reasons we set out for exercising, writing or training may stay constant, but our desire and willingness to do those things will be tested somehow. At some point in your road towards self improvement your motivation will run out. This is undeniably the truth.
How do we fix this. When committing to long term endeavors, or when one tries to reinvent themselves, motivation and inspiration can help you get started. To be able to get through the process you will need discipline.
Discipline: (n) Activity, exercise or regimen that develops or improves a skill.
(v) To bring to a state of order and obedience by training and control.
One form of discipline that I can talk about is working on a schedule, Im discussing this because its a technique that I have been utilizing. With the goals that I prioritize in terms of weightlifting and writing, working on a schedule puts me in a state of accountability, this is not bad at all because now I don’t have to rely on motivation alone. The only way to actually progress with my weightlifting goals was to continually and constantly show up in the gym, on top of that I follow a 4 day training regimen and not just winging it when I’m in the gym. As long as I put in the work and show up, I know that I’m going to get better, it doesn’t matter if the training session was good or bad.
With creative work or writing, the only way I can actually create something is when I actually do it, whatever the case maybe, great ideas wont be written on its own, I try and make sure that I put work and volume and do it over and over and again. I write 4x a week at around 11:00 PM to 3:00 AM. Whatever ideas I have in mind I write it down and from there I start something. What you are reading right now took me 4 days to work on; a 10 min read for you. This schedule works for me because I get creative the most around these times, and I am usually at my regular job while doing it. You do it enough and surely one can develop a habit or even better determine the best time of the day where they are most creative or most energetic to squeeze a workout in.
Working on a scheduled system is what will make you perform, if you don’t commit to this then ones again your only option will be motivation . Let motivation inspire you, but don’t expect it to stick around.
With this being said, relying on motivation alone is of a weak mindset, what will separate you from everyone else is your dedication towards the creative work or transformation that you are willing to put in, even without motivation or inspiration. let it be a part of your lifestyle and be defined by your self discipline. Focus more on building discipline and habits.
Stop waiting for motivation or inspiration to strike. Create something, build something transform yourself and put in the work.
XERGIUS 