Motivation is nonsense

Motivation can be defined as the desire to act and move towards a goal. At a certain point in life we have all recited the "Tomorrow will be different" or "I will start tomorrow" mantra with the hope that our minds would be in line with our vision. We often spend time going through motivational videos where you have a really nice theme song in the background and your favorite actor reciting some catchy phrases that instantly pump you up  and make you feel like you can achieve any and everything. I can accurately describe the experience because I for one have been in the same loop for longer than i would like to admit. The funny thing about this is that no matter how many videos you watch ..."tomorrow" will always be tomorrow and it will never come. You will find yourself going through the same cycle over and over again. I often asked myself why this is so, even though i literally feel like Clark Kent about to take his spectacles off and ready to take on the world it seemed like i am never motivated enough to do anything consistent. The answer to my question is simple, Motivation is nonsense.

Like i said earlier, motivation is the desire to act, desire desire desire and this doesn't necessarily equate to world changing action. It is just a euphoria like feeling of temporary adrenaline that comes from seeing something you like or something you want to change in your life. For example when you collect your academic results and they aren't what you wanted and you say to yourself as soon as I get home I am going to formulate a study timetable which will get  you the results you want, you formulate the timetable and mark out all the important topics and then you say "Tomorrow I begin". Well we all know what happens the following day, again i can accurately describe the experience because it is something that i have gone through countless times. What is happening here is the moment  you decide to make any behavior or habit changing decision your brain suddenly comes alive and kicks into survival mode where its sole purpose is to keep you as safe and as comfortable as possible so whatever plan you make that will prove to be challenging will be watered down. 

Ever ask yourself why it is not hard to do the easy stuff, well it is simply because it doesn't pose any threat to your comfort. So for as long as we go through the same motions every single day: Sleeping in instead of getting out of bed to go for your 6AM run. Picking pizza over a salad even though you know that one warm, cheese-smothered slice always leads to a binge or putting off bringing that idea you’ve been dreaming about to life then you won't get anything done.

The excuses that precede these not-so-great decisions are usually linked to certain emotions: Overwhelm, fear, self-doubt and that all-too-familiar “I don’t feel like it”. 
However the cold hard truth is that You Will Never Feel Like It. In spite of these stubborn feelings here are a couple of ways you can use to get over yourself literally and actually get something done:

1. Understand that motivation is rubbish

Best selling author Mel Robbins wrote a book called "The 5 Second Rule: Transform Your Life, Work And Confidence With Everyday Courage", though the title may be a mouthful I assure you it is a worthwhile read and it will change the way you conduct yourself. The story behind the book is that Mel was going through a tough time then one day she watched a NASA rocket launch and decided she would launch herself out of the bed every morning by counting 5,4,3,2,1 then stand up immediately and get her day going. Totally silly right, or so I thought until one day i decided to try it myself and as soon as my alarm went off i counted to zero and jumped out of bed and trust me it felt good. A few minutes later i went to bed though because i hadn't thought about what i would do when i woke up so going back to my warm comfortable bed seemed to be the only logical option. Then I planned out my day for the next day and wen through the 5 second rule again and surprise surprise I actually woke up, studied, went for my morning jog, prepared breakfast and spent the entire day feeling like i could take on anything and conquer. So whenever you are stuck, try the 5 second rule and actually get up to do whatever it is you have to do before your brain's survival instinct kicks in.

2. Avoid shortcuts and develop habits

In this ever evolving world of technology, there seems to be a hack from literally everything like how to get rich quick or how to lose weight fast. Ask anyone who has attained a goal that they had been struggling to achieve how they did it and they will most probably tell you that it took a strong mind and the development of hard habits not a life-hack as they are popularly termed. It takes approximately 21 days to adopt a new habit so that slow steady persistent grind is required to get you where you want to be. I realised that by practicing the 5 second rule to help with my habit to work, i was replacing the "5 more minutes after your alarm rings then boom you are an hour behind" habit and slowly but surely waking up on time became natural to the point where I didn't need the 5 second rule to wake me up anymore and i started practicing it in other areas of my life

Leo Babauta went from being 70 pounds overweight and way over his head in debt to being a healthier version of himself and he had cleared all his debt in just 2 years.He achieved this incredible feat by starting with running for 10 minutes a day, eating more vegetables and drinking more water, one meal at a time. By cutting back on his expenses, saving a little more and paying off his debt until he could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Developing productive habits and not depending on "motivation" will take you from I need motivation to get things done to I cant believe i actually managed to finally do it. They will allow you reach your set goals one step at a time instead of going for quick shortcuts which will just leave you frustrated