If you want to get something done, action is the first step, not motivation.
Most people think they need to be motivated to take action, but that’s backwards.
It’s action that leads to motivation, not motivation that leads to action.
Yes, when you are motivated you tend to take action, but that’s not always the case and it’s not always dependable.
Last week I was deep in a mental struggle. In my head I was super frustrated and upset. I was upset about a situation and really just wanted to blame anything I could so it wasn’t my fault.
Because I was frustrated, I didn’t have the desire to do anything else.
I wanted to write a draft for a new book I had been thinking about but I just couldn’t get my mind in the right place to do so.
“How am I supposed to write a book that’s positive and motivating when I’m fucking pissed off!”.
I had plenty of reasons not to do it and it was so hard to get my mind right.
I’ve been working hard on my mental fitness lately and was able to realize that I was choosing this perspective. Yes I was choosing it, but it felt like I couldn’t UNCHOOSE it.
Then I thought of my advice to so many others:
Just start.
Just start writing and see how it goes. Once I get into it I’ll probably be fine.
So I did.
I started writing.
It wasn’t easy at first.
The words didn’t come flowing out of my brain on into my fingers. I even thought: “this isn’t as good as I wanted it to be…”, but I pushed through the first couple of minutes anyway.
Soon enough the words started to come more easily.
By doing the writing I had got myself back into my mindspace about the content of the book. I started getting more clear with what I wanted to say and the words kept coming.
2 hours and 3300+ words later I had my first draft!
Success!
I took action (writing) and then the motivation came.
It wasn’t an easy process. I wanted to stop a couple of times and distract myself with something else, but I still pushed through.
By the end I was so fucking happy I did it.
I was so happy that instead of feeling bad about my state and doing nothing, I took action. The result was the completion of the first draft of my new book.
Doing the work and getting something accomplished put me in a way better head space for the rest of the day. I even got a few more things done after that. Which came more easily because I wasn’t so grumpy anymore.
It was tough to get myself started, so I know my words aren’t all that simple to implement, but I can confess they work.
Action leads to Motivation!
ACTION is the first step.