Maintaining Our Motivation
Nothing kills our motivation more than the plateau of a long journey. The beginning and end of a journey are exciting, filled with challenges, growth, lessons learned, and excitement. But the middle, the middle is well, boring, long, and unmotivating. How can we maintain our motivation in these moments of dryness? How can we continue to move forward, when it seems like our endpoint is moving away from us faster than we can trudge forward?
The short answer is through sheer willpower and determination. But these strengths will only last so long during periods of drought. In these moments, other skills must take over, those walking next to us must share their energy, even push us along. As we trudge through the desert of despair, thinking we will never reach our end goal, gasping for breath, desperate for a break, we can find relief in simplicity and daily routines.
Recently, a business colleague of mine and I were discussing self-care and how it is the key to maintaining motivation and increasing our creativity. Self-care is an area I struggle in. While I am motivated, full of energy, and always give every task my all, I struggle to take care of myself. Whenever I stop to rest or give myself something I need, I feel guilty or have the overpowering sense that I need to justify this moment, rationalize this waste of time. I love my work, I am always working on multiple projects, volunteering, and caring for my family, but the thought of taking a day and caring for me is completely foreign. Because of this, I can struggle with burnout, irritability, and grumpiness. My work can take me longer to complete, my muse is harder and harder to find, and the interruptions that normally bring me joy, irritate the fire out of me.
As a writer, being creative is paramount, perhaps in my role of business owner, and consultant being creative is even more important. I must be able to see solutions that don’t exist or are not traditional, and how these differences can set my clients ahead of their competition. Yet, not caring for me, not making me a priority, blinds me to potential solutions.
The first lesson to learn in self-care is that self-care is not an option. In order to be successful at anything in life, we must first care for ourselves. This means we need to stay hydrated, eat the right foods, get enough sleep, take breaks, play, and move. We must find ways to de-stress, to recenter ourselves, clear our brains, and just be for a moment. I know I am a much better parent when I care for myself first. I have patience and want to spend time with my child. I see their interruptions as moments of joy, not interruptions.
I am slowly learning to put myself first. It is not easy, but I must say, on the days I have the goal of doing one thing for me, I am happier, less stressed, and much more productive. Taking the time to work out every day, reading a book, giving myself facials, and taking naps clears my head of the clutter, allowing me to focus. This lack of clutter and increased focus results in less work time, less stress, and more joy. These moments also help me to see clearly where I am on my journey and celebrate the victories, even the small ones.
For me, maintaining my motivation is all about structured routines, planning my days, and lots of self-care. If I can control nothing else in a day other than ensuring I am hydrated and have moved, the day has been a success. Seeing the progress I am making toward my goals, becoming stronger, gaining experience, learning lessons along the way keeps me motivated.
Years ago, my mom gave me a pair of shoes that said, “the destination lies in the journey.” The phrase has stuck with me for well over 10 years and has changed my perspective. I understand now the goal is not always to reach the end, but rather to live along the way, to learn lessons, grow, and sometimes pause to enjoy a moment. Understanding this has helped me maintain my motivation through the dry periods, the long plateaus, the pauses that seem to never end. Learning to ask myself what else I could try, what things I could implement to help move forward keeps me motivated, as I can change my perspective from being stuck in a plateau to facing a challenge that needs a solution.
Maintaining our motivation, no matter what journey we are on is not easy. Especially when it seems that everyone else is reaching their goals before us. Yet speed is not the answer, reaching our goal first should never be our motivator, growing, learning as much as we can, becoming a better person, should always be our goal. But being the last to get there is about as much fun as being the last kid picked in gym class, none of us want to experience that feeling, yet sometimes the journey is all about what we learn, not reaching the end.
Rather than focusing on the end, focus on where you are. Learn to see the progress you make daily, getting up every day at 5 am to workout is a HUGE victory. When it feels like you are stuck, take a step back and ask yourself if you have any unmet needs, being hungry can make it seem like the world is out to get us, meet that need, and then take another look. I bet there is something you can do, a change you can make, that will get you through the plateau faster. And maybe, just maybe, you were never stuck in a plateau, rather this was a lesson that needed to be learned.
Sincerely,
Sara
