on motivation

motivation is a day-to-day achievement.

whether you are working on

a degree

a fitness and exercise plan

a blog

or a job you aren't incredibly passionate about,

every day you have to get up and make a decision

- over and over again -

to do it.

you have to remind yourself

of the rewards

of the reasons you're putting in this effort.

you have to remind yourself

how you will feel after this day is over,

when you have successfully completed what you set out to do.

it's not even just day-to-day...

i would say motivation is moment-to-moment.

there are times when i am incredibly motivated

(say, to go for a run)

and i find that moments later something puts

a little snag in my plans

and my motivation grinds to a halt instantaneously.

the secret is to be able to re-motivate yourself

when these little snags hit.

dante is amazing at this

...i am not.

when i hit a little snag, my response is usually

"well, i'll try again tomorrow."

so i'm working on tricking myself into having more motivation.

i put pictures and quotes that motivate me

up around the house,

and i tell myself that i only have to do something for five minutes

and if i still want to stop after that,

i can stop.

but you know what?

i never stop after five minutes.

because once i get started,

that motivation kicks in again,

and i remember why i'm pushing myself so hard...

because the rewards are amazing.

what do you do to motivate yourself?

image from here