Why Motivation Isn’t Everything
When we wake up in the morning of the New Year, we are fuelled by big dreams and the desire to change our lives for the better. It’s also the time of year when we are most motivated to work on those goals and resolutions. But what if I told you that if you rely on motivation alone, you might not find motivation to last past February, and you’ll probably struggle to achieve those goals? So, if motivation isn’t enough, how do you keep on track and meet your resolutions?
Well, to answer this question, there are a couple of truths about motivation you need to know, and once you understand them, you will have a much easier time trying to achieve what you’ve set out to do this year. And, if you can incorporate these lessons into how you tackle your goals this year, it might be the year you change your life.
The Truth About Motivation
Have you ever been motivated by watching others achieve spectacular results and dreams, but then you never get started with your own? I know I have, and falling into that trap is easy. You think you just need to motivate yourself, psyche yourself up, and have a positive mindset. Then you can sit down and do all the work necessary to achieve your goals. But then nothing happens. You might work a couple of hours or even a few days, but that motivation runs out, and you try to find another inspiration hit somewhere else. It’s an addictive cycle, leading to work not getting done and little to show for by the end of the year.
When I first started creating goals, I went all in. I gave myself huge goals and mapped out the life I wanted. I would go in inspired and then burn out soon after. But throughout my years running my business and being forced to keep myself accountable, I learned a pattern that has kept me motivated.
Having an initial spark of motivation is great, but the real push forward comes from accomplishing goals, not setting them. You don’t need to attend motivational videos or have everyone around cheering you on, nor do you need to meditate and have a big holiday. These are great, but unfortunately, they won’t complete any of the necessary work to achieve your goals for you.
The Mindset Paradox
In the entrepreneurial world, you’ll hear entrepreneurs repeatedly say, ‘It’s all about the mindset’ or ‘You’ve just got to have the right mindset’. But having the perfect mindset isn’t what you need to get motivated. Even worse, if you’re too busy trying to curate the perfect mindset before any action has taken place, you’re only holding yourself back more!
Mindset is something you cultivate over time with experience and meeting new challenges while you take action. Most people who have been working longer than you and have found success find it easy to state, ‘It’s all about mindset’ because their actions over the years have given them the tools to act even when motivation is low. You might have a bad day and lose motivation. In times like these, if you’re relying on a motivational fix or external factors to push you forward into taking action, progress will be slow, and maybe you’ll give up before you get to see what you’re capable of.
But if motivation isn’t enough to kick your butt into gear, then what is? How can you make sure you stay in the game long enough to achieve those big goals and give yourself the time you need to develop an entrepreneurial mindset? Here are some things that Jeff Haden suggests in his book “The Motivation Myth” that have fundamentally changed the way I stay motivated.
Action Drives Motivation
If you’ve ever set yourself something to do and then achieved it, you’ve probably felt that exhilaration and motivation to do it again.
When I created my first Etsy shop, I didn’t necessarily have an end goal of making 100,000 sales. Instead, my daily actions eventually produced the same result – even surpassing it. I had a system of making products, posting them and growing my shop. Selling was an inevitable part of the actions I was taking. The feeling of selling my very first item brought relief and motivated me to continue. However, accomplishing the goal of making my next product and publishing it is what encouraged me to take action each day. And that motivation only grew when I made sales.
Ultimately, motivation comes from the actions you take each day and gaining lots of small achievements. Motivation isn’t a prerequisite to success. It’s the result. But how do you take action if you’re not motivated to in the first place?
Build A System Around Your Goal
Suppose you’ve set an ambitious goal like earning “six figures”. Then, set that goal, work out a system to get you there and forget the goal exists. You heard me. Forget it exists.
If you have a goal to earn six figures, and then at the end of your first month, you’ve only made $500, then the disparity between where you are now and your goal is too large. They aren’t even comparable.
By forgetting your goal, you’re not comparing yourself to where you want to go, but what you are doing right now. With a solid process and a system you can follow, you will inevitably reach your goals. Most importantly, your motivation will never dry up because you consistently achieve something. By the time you’re earning your income goal, you’ve built up the skills and the systems to continue it and even teach others how to get there.
You might not know exactly everything you need to achieve that goal initially, but that’s where you should focus your attention. Artists don’t become master painters by striving to recreate the Mona Lisa as their first painting; they don’t know how to. But with a focus on practising and honing their painting skills for years, they become master painters. You need to love the process and focus on the achievements you’re making every day; you’ll eventually get where you want to be.
The First Rule of Motivation Club
The first rule about motivation club is we don’t talk about motivation club. It sounds counterintuitive, but if you’re excited about something and want to achieve a goal, say you want to run a marathon. Something happens when you talk to your family or friends about your goal, and they praise you for wanting to do such a hard thing.
Research shows that if someone praises or compliments you for something you're still working on or haven’t even begun, your brain might think, "Oh, we're done here!" and give you a feel-good boost as if you've already finished. It's like getting dessert before eating your meal – suddenly, the main course doesn't seem as exciting. So, while it's great to get encouragement, getting it at the right time is super important. And if you made that goal to impress someone else and doesn’t originate from a place of personal desire, the effect is even stronger.
Of course, we need to talk to others about our dreams and ambitions, and we should. But it’s important not to let praise get in the way of achieving the goals you’ve set for yourself. Focus on the next action you have to take to get things done instead.
The people we should strive to have around us are those who support our goals with action – fostering an environment that encourages working hard and always accomplishing the next step. We want to encourage each other to do the actions we need each day.
The Path To Achieving Your Goals
To keep ourselves on track, we need to stop relying so heavily on feeling motivated or having the perfect mindset. What really helps is creating systems that support us even on tougher days, and gradually, we can make those tough days rarer.
I want to share with you the strategy I use to keep myself aligned with working toward my goals both in my personal and business life.
Step 1: Set A Goal
First, we need something to work towards. Not 'smart' goals you can obtain in a week. Dream big. What is a goal you want, not something to impress others or which is unobtainable, but one which is important to you? Do you want to travel the world? Do you want to build a community? Become financially independent? Or do you want to get really good at something? Whatever the goal, write it down now.
Example: When I started my Etsy shop, I aimed to make a passive income stream that allowed me and my fiance to work from anywhere while we travelled the world together.
Step 2: Know What Makes That Goal Real
Now, I want you to break down the goal into everything you will need to achieve that goal. It could be building an active social media account, creating a mailing list, or publishing a newsletter every week. Break it down as much as possible into what you need to meet that goal. It’s important not to confuse the what with ‘how’, we’ll get to that later. Look at others who are successful or have what you want for inspiration. What are they doing now, and what were they doing at the beginning of their journey? Don’t compare your workload with someone with a team of 10 – whoever you’re looking at, you need to be able to achieve similar results. You’re looking to build the systems you need where you eventually need a team.
Example: To achieve my goal, I needed to create an Etsy shop, post lots of products, research my target market needs, write product descriptions, SEO, tags and more.
Step 3: The Process Is King
This step is the most important part of achieving your goals, creating the process. Defining the how. Your process will become the core of your business – I can’t overstate this enough. You should have a plan of action for what you need to do to get to your goal, and you need to be as specific as you can. It is true that plans don't always work out as we want them to, but without a guide to help us move forward, we are left to stumble in the dark. As the Eisenhower quote goes: “No battle was ever won according to plan, but no battle was ever won without one.”
Example: I wrote a detailed way of making product previews, descriptions, tags, and more. I had a formula I followed for each step. I also had a list of the seasons, events and holidays that needed to be covered with my designs. Nothing was left to chance. I was ticking off a list of things to do. And in my creative time, I had full creative freedom, but that was a calculated step in my process.
The Creative Freedom Problem
Now, you might be thinking to yourself, but I’m a creative person. I don’t want to box myself up into a rigid plan, and I need my creative freedom. But, it is important to realise that sometimes we use creative freedom as a crutch. It becomes an excuse to avoid working hard on one thing, especially when life gets in the way, and we feel overwhelmed. So, instead, we jump between tasks when things get tough, using creative freedom as a disguise. I used to struggle a lot with this issue, and the best solution I found was to give creative freedom space within the bigger picture of my system. I gave myself set hours and tasks when I got to do nothing but be creative. But I still follow all the other “less glamorous” steps to keep on track with my projects and goals.
Step 4: Find Your People
Wanting something better for yourself and following your dreams can be lonely. This journey often involves a unique path that not everyone will understand or join you on, and it can mean spending a lot of time focused on goals that others may not share. This is why it's crucial to find like-minded people.
When surrounded by people who share your work ethic and dedication, you not only combat loneliness but also gain a support system. These individuals understand the challenges and joys of striving for big goals. They can offer invaluable encouragement, advice, and a sense of community on this journey.
Engage in communities, both online and offline, where people are discussing and working towards similar dreams and goals. Network at events, join relevant support groups or forums and don't shy away from initiating conversations about your aspirations. Let your motivation be fueled by people who consistently put in the effort and take concrete steps towards their goals. Doing so creates a network of support and motivation, making your journey towards your dreams a shared and more fulfilling experience.
Step 5: Forget About Your Goal
Yup, it’s time to forget you even set a goal or resolution. Instead, you’re going to focus on your newfound process. Goals without a plan are just dreams. And if we’re too busy focusing on the goal, we will be too distracted by how far off we are from obtaining them, especially in the beginning. Your goal is inevitable with your day-to-day actions while working on your process. If you had created a process for writing 1000 words a day, you’d eventually write a book, and whatever you’ve chosen as your goal is no different.
Step 6: Review Your Process Weekly
You won’t get your process perfect the first time, and that’s perfectly okay. Creating a great process is a skill you will learn while working on your goals. Every week, look at the work you’ve done and review how it has gone. Did you manage to achieve everything you had to that week? What could you have done differently? Did you get overwhelmed? Do you need to give yourself more time for certain things? There are many ways you can improve what you’re doing each week.
Once you have found any potential improvements to your process, adjust it and start on it next week. Keep refining your process, and sooner or later, you will have one that feels right for you and has the greatest potential to bring you closer to your goals and aspirations. If your goal is longer term and will take months or even years, improving your process will give you a sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep going.
Every day you work on your process, it brings you a step closer to your goals, and that's a significant achievement in itself. Let's debunk the myth that we need constant high motivation to be successful. Instead, understand that your steady, committed work on a well-defined process is what truly leads to achievement. This approach not only guides you to your goals but also cultivates a lasting self-motivation, fueled by each small success along the way. Trust in your process and celebrate your daily progress – achieving your goals will be inevitable.