Guest Post: The Agony of Self-Motivation
Greetings, fellow bloggers.
The name is Kate. I am your guest blogger.
I am having a gap year which means I am in the bitter-sweet period between high school and university, in the gaping void between study and study, and let me tell you one thing - it’s not as easy-breezy as one would have you believe.
Don’t get me wrong, job commitments put aside, our breed of people govern our waking times and have an awful lot of freedom with our time. But a topic we often like to avoid is ‘self-motivation’. This is a pertinent topic not only for myself but I think for everyone single being on this planet.
If you are an artist, an author or even an ordinary person attempting to put on their trainers once a week, most people at some point in their life will suffer from the agony of self-motivation.
Lack of self-motivation can worsen into a sickness, from never having the motivation to quit a terrible habit, to transforming your life, it can do just as much damage. Just like a cold, you can feel the presence of it precursors before waking one morning to find yourself in the pits of guilt that culminates into a burst of motivation only to evaporate before you get out of your PJs.
Whether your abundance of time or busy schedule is the culprit, we all ask the same question: how do we motivate ourselves to commence the tasks we have set ourselves?
So how do we cure the ‘sickness’? What can be done to eradicate the struggle against oneself? Well, I am no doctor, or magician on that note, but there are a few rules as a ‘gappy’ that I live by and would encourage others to do so as well:
1) Set a rough sleeping schedule and stick to it. In other words, have a set bedtime. This is an important one because the body clock is the framework of routine. Maintaining a rough time to switch off and to wake up is fundamental to set your parameters for rule 2. Of course, on occasion one may stray from their normal sleeping hours, but who can avoid that with oceans in the mind?
2) Try and achieve one profound and/or productive thing every 12 hours. Whether it be cooking the family a special meal to donating blood to climbing Mount Everest, no achievement should be rendered insignificant. Self-motivation is like a seed, it must be planted in the foundation of potential and possibility, it must be watered and maintained for it to grow and give back. Plant the seed of self-motivation and water it every day.
3) Seek balance. Elementary, my dear Watson. Balance between the two extremes of rest and productivity is fundamental for self-motivation to be maintained throughout life. Once an equilibrium can be found, you have mastered what most of the world is looking for.
So there you have it, you’re not alone in the struggle for self-motivation, but you’re certainly not helpless. I hope you find self-motivation somewhere in the endless oceans of your mind.
How do you keep motivated? Who here has climbed Mt. Everest (or done something else you're proud of?)
The name is Kate. I am your guest blogger.
I am having a gap year which means I am in the bitter-sweet period between high school and university, in the gaping void between study and study, and let me tell you one thing - it’s not as easy-breezy as one would have you believe.
Don’t get me wrong, job commitments put aside, our breed of people govern our waking times and have an awful lot of freedom with our time. But a topic we often like to avoid is ‘self-motivation’. This is a pertinent topic not only for myself but I think for everyone single being on this planet.
If you are an artist, an author or even an ordinary person attempting to put on their trainers once a week, most people at some point in their life will suffer from the agony of self-motivation.
Lack of self-motivation can worsen into a sickness, from never having the motivation to quit a terrible habit, to transforming your life, it can do just as much damage. Just like a cold, you can feel the presence of it precursors before waking one morning to find yourself in the pits of guilt that culminates into a burst of motivation only to evaporate before you get out of your PJs.
Whether your abundance of time or busy schedule is the culprit, we all ask the same question: how do we motivate ourselves to commence the tasks we have set ourselves?
So how do we cure the ‘sickness’? What can be done to eradicate the struggle against oneself? Well, I am no doctor, or magician on that note, but there are a few rules as a ‘gappy’ that I live by and would encourage others to do so as well:
1) Set a rough sleeping schedule and stick to it. In other words, have a set bedtime. This is an important one because the body clock is the framework of routine. Maintaining a rough time to switch off and to wake up is fundamental to set your parameters for rule 2. Of course, on occasion one may stray from their normal sleeping hours, but who can avoid that with oceans in the mind?
2) Try and achieve one profound and/or productive thing every 12 hours. Whether it be cooking the family a special meal to donating blood to climbing Mount Everest, no achievement should be rendered insignificant. Self-motivation is like a seed, it must be planted in the foundation of potential and possibility, it must be watered and maintained for it to grow and give back. Plant the seed of self-motivation and water it every day.
3) Seek balance. Elementary, my dear Watson. Balance between the two extremes of rest and productivity is fundamental for self-motivation to be maintained throughout life. Once an equilibrium can be found, you have mastered what most of the world is looking for.
So there you have it, you’re not alone in the struggle for self-motivation, but you’re certainly not helpless. I hope you find self-motivation somewhere in the endless oceans of your mind.
How do you keep motivated? Who here has climbed Mt. Everest (or done something else you're proud of?)
Awesome post Kate!!! So relatable! I am not a 'gappy' but a 'dying-uni-student-with-too-much-assessment' and finding the motivation to study or start that assignment that is due in less than a week (definitely never left an assignment this late ;)) or go for a run is a battle... and to top it off: procrastination...my worst enemy in life! hahaha :)
ReplyDeleteRainbow Magic Fairy, you are queen of being awesome. Don't forget that! (And also don't leave stuff to the last minute, you're freaking me out.)
DeleteI find that one thing for me is to not try to change to much at once. I have this tendency to think one morning that my life is a mess and then hop up and try to fix my study habits, eating habits, exercise habits, and organization all in one day. Rather, I try to make a change or two a week now so I don't get overwhelmed. Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteThat's actually a great idea, because I've done that before and it doesn't work. I'll try doing the week at a time thing, hopefully it'll work out better for me. Thanks for commenting, RM!
DeleteGreat post! I like to think that I can be quite a self-motivated person....when I'm interested in what I'm being motivated to do. But sometimes, *cough* math homework *cough*, motivation just goes right down the toilet.
ReplyDelete(PS- Victoria, I tagged you for something! )
Hahahaha, that's awesome :) (Well, not being motivated is not awesome but you making me laugh is.)
DeleteThank you so much! I'm a bit behind on my reading/commenting at the moment, but I'll check it out ASAP!
Hm, this was quite an interesting post. Self motivation is quite a hard thing to achieve :/
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed :) Thanks for commenting, Grace!
Delete