June 15, 2023

Now let’s say you have a goal that you’re entirely focused on and extremely passionate about. You have cleared your schedule, and your home is perfectly conducive to that writing/productivity/training.

But you still can’t find the motivation to get productive. Why not?

How about this: can you drop and give me 100 push ups right now?

Unless you’re in the car or on the train, there isn’t much of a good reason why not. But I bet you don’t do it.

(Go on, I double dare you!) So, what’s stopping you now?

The problem very often comes down to energy. And this is another aspect of motivation that is so often misunderstood and overlooked.

Too many people claim that they don’t manage to achieve their goals because they don’t have enough time.

“I don’t have time to work out.” “I’d love to learn a language, but I don’t have time.” “There isn’t enough time in the day to look for a new job.”

None of this is true.

You can always find more time in the day.

You can look for a new job while you’re on your commute – or even while you’re on the toilet!

You could get up 15 minutes earlier to do a workout. You could learn a language on Bluetooth headphones while you cook.

And I BET that you have spent plenty of time doing other things. Watched any good TV shows recently?

Yes?

Then how can you sit there and tell me you don’t have any time!

Have you really not wasted any time on Facebook lately? Is your itinerary that packed?

So, if there is time, then why is it you can’t do the thing that you WANT to do?

The answer is energy!

Energy is finite.

You cannot simply keep piling more and more on top of an already packed schedule and expect not to be tired.

The reason that you come home from work and then just want to crash on the sofa is that you are too tired to do anything useful. Even to do something useful like reading!

The tireder you get, the more your motivation and willpower are depleted.

This is why we are more likely to snack in the evening. We even start making more selfish decisions come the evening according to studies

Even if this is something you really want to do, when you are spent, your body is going to want “brainless” activity.

So, what do we do?