A Note About Motivation

Like so many others, I have joined a small community of peers online in a healthy habits challenge for the new year. It’s an opportunity to make me accountable for the choices I make to either lounge around or go for that quick jog, grab a sugary treat for a snack or opt for a piece of fruit instead.

One of the more thoughtful tidbits to come from this accountability group was a discussion about motivation. A lot of us tend to think that motivation must come first before the appropriate action follows. You have to feel that burst of energy to accomplish something before you undertake it when in reality it’s the opposite. Taking the action leads to the results you want which leads to the motivation to keep going. It’s the act of doing and the results you see that make you excited to do it again.

I find this applies so much to my creative content generation as well. For so many years I have had the drive to do more, learn more, and experiment more with new technology, equipment, and storytelling. But when it comes to putting the rubber on the road, I come to an impasse. I know what I want to accomplish. I can’t wait to feel that sense of accomplishment in owning my own piece of hard-earned content that I’m proud of publishing. But the motivation to sit down and get things done is missing, and this ends as expected with me choosing an easier task to occupy myself instead of me getting started.

This new year I’m excited to throw away the excuses. Motivation can eat my dust; I’m going to just simply start doing things and see where they take me. I hope every content maker out there can find the same resolve to say phooey to motivation and embrace the action.