Stoking Motivation the Right Way

 

To achieve sustainable flow, the initial time can be long and drawn out. Again, it’s like starting a campfire with logs. It can take quite a bit of time. Often times, the initial fire would flicker out so you’d have to make sure that the logs catch fire.

You really can’t expect a spark that starts an inferno that lasts weeks. It doesn’t work that way. You have to stick to the process of stoking your motivation until it ignites and stays bright and focused for the long haul.

There are going to be many false starts along the way. Don’t be surprised if you get motivated and all of a sudden, you flame out. Sometimes, you’re really pumped up, but somebody shows up, or they say something, or you see something that throws you off and your motivation just drops like a rock.

You may be able to hit your groove and it’d seem that regardless of what other people are doing and saying, you remain focused and motivated. So far so good, right? However, sooner or later, it starts to flicker out and before you know it, it’s gone.

You have to keep igniting your motivation and keep at it until it is self-sustainable. You have to reach a point where it just keeps going and going. How does this happen? Well, it all boils down to momentum.

There is a point in any kind of process where people are able to reach a level where it takes more effort to stop than it is to start. Things start to pile up on top of each other and you achieve a momentum. It’s like you have a lot of force behind you so it takes less effort to stay motivated than digging you heels and stopping.

The key is to not get demoralized by the false starts. Believe me. If you were starting any kind of project and you’re all pumped up about it, but for whatever reason, it doesn’t pan out. You don’t get the rewards that you expected the first time, the second time, or even the tenth time you try.

It’s easy to get discouraged, but you have to keep at it until you achieve momentum. This is what filters a lot of people in terms of success habits. We’ve got this idea in our heads that when we think of a goal, we automatically assume that we will reach it. We automatically expect that we will get quick results with very minimal effort.

Of course, we both know that this is not the case. Life can be unfair. Often times, it seems that we have a harder path than other people. Unfortunately, we can’t just waste our time looking over and saying, “What about them? How come they have it so easy? How come my path is narrow and hard?”

You just have to focus on achieving momentum. That should be your first immediate goal. Everything else will be taken care of once you hit that momentum because that plugs you into a state of flow. Don’t get confused and distracted. Otherwise, it’s too easy to think that you are entitled to an easy trip. Nobody is entitled to an easy life. We all have to pay our dues. This is just part of it.