Motivation, aka desperation, both fleeting and otherwise..

M's Topic: Motivation

If there is one thing that I know, it is how easy it is to let things slip by you without even realizing you've forgotten a previously life-and-death-important goal. I am the master of not accomplishing the goals I set for myself, and believe me, they are lofty ones! I do need to keep myself motivated to keep up with some of the necessities of life though, especially in school, work, and health related aspects, otherwise I am in for some terrible last-ditch efforts to meet deadlines on a pretty regular basis this year. (Ugh!)

To offset my predisposition toward this crappy habit, I've come up with a few things that work for me (let me preface this by saying that everyone is different, and what works for me may sound ridiculous to others) to help keep myself motivated. 

First and foremost, I usually set very small goals for myself. I find that I have to deliberately make my goals easy to accomplish. If I can avoid creating a massive challenge for myself to accomplish, I can avoid setting myself up for the burnout and failure that inevitably follows.  Setting smaller goals also helps me build in time for relaxation, which is another necessity to stay motivated and avoid burnout. Some people set small goals that work up in steps toward a larger, overall goal. However, this really doesn't work for me. I imagine that I'm trying to outsmart myself, and my brain's all, "Ha! You can't trick me! I know you're pretending that all we're doing are these little thingamabobs here and there, but I can see what you're getting at and you can't make me do it!" (I'm very stubborn.) So. Achieving my goals in stair-step manner just doesn't work for me.

I also try to be realistic in that I don't set too many goals. If I get really ambitious and set a ton of goals, I usually can't keep track of them, or don't keep up with all of them. Then when I screw one up, I lose motivation and give up on all of them. That's become pretty routine for me, so I try to be aware of it now, and only set up a reasonable amount of things to keep track of at one time.

Most of all, I need accountability. I have to really put it out there what I want to achieve, and deliberately ask people to hold me accountable to whatever I've said I'll accomplish (see the deal made with my friend, M, to keep me blogging regularly). Either that, or I have to make it so darn public that I'll be embarrassed from then on after as being a lazy schlump if I don't do what I've said I will.  So, I let others motivate me. Rather, I let others into my system, shaming myself into getting things done rather than showing off my true procrastinatory colors! ;)  This might sound awful, like drilling unhealthy body image crap into the brains of the people to make them workout because they don't like themselves, like you're doing something for the wrong reasons. For reasons other than to make yourself inherently happy, or to be healthier, or whatever other reason may be appropriate/inappropriate in a given situation. I really do need extrinsic motivation in the form of other humans, though, to keep moving forward. It helps keep me feeling positive about the work I'm putting forth, and stops me from simply being depressed about the work I'm doing all alone in some godforsaken, miserable place.

For some, imagining the end result is enough to motivate, but my motivation isn't a distant, nearly intangible thing. My motivation needs to come from another party, during the journey TOWARD the end result, as it's easy for me to lose sight of the end result. I could have made this rambley (that's not a real word, is it?) post a great deal shorter by saying that I fail a lot, but that I'm motivated by people, and I need lots of pats on the back in the form of "achieved goals," aka small, easy to achieve goals.

As far as finding motivation for day-to-day tasks, I am a list-maker! Checklists are my friend, I love writing them, I love looking at them, I love checking things off of them. I love checklists. I get such a huge sense of satisfaction when I see a thoroughly checked to-do list! It also helps to race through things as quickly as possible, so that you can start having fun earlier! That's probably not helpful though, for someone who is reading this in hopes of gaining some kind of insight into motivating one's self. Unfortunately, that's all I've got!! Fortunately, it works for me!! (Mostly.)

This year, I hope to get things done, and I plan to utilize the support system of a few good friends to help me along the way so that I don't fall flat on my face! I'm organizing things in such a way that it is hard for me to fail this year!!