Self-motivation

 

I recently wrote a blog about how you, as an adult, could be bored. You have control over so many aspects of your life and there are so many things that you can do.   But I failed to take into consideration self-motivation.  

So many people are so used to having so many other people tell them what they need to do, where they need to do it, and how they need to do it that they no longer know how to do it for themselves.   As people get laid off and then try to go back to work or find new jobs they say they're bored.   

It is not boredom for lack of things to do.  I think it is boredom due to a lack of self-motivation.  There is no deadline. There is no one to tell them that this or that has to be done by this time and do it this way.   As a writer and owning my own business, there's plenty to do.   But without a deadline or a set timeline to do what needs to be done, it then doesn't get done.   

Whether or not this stems from organized sports and the fact that every minute of every day is planned to a T or if it's just the lack of spirit needed to motivate oneself, I'm not sure.  There was a time when you were kicked outside and said don't come back until the street lights came on. You had to plan your day.  You had to decide what to do.  You entertained yourself.  You set your priorities. 

Somewhere down the line that got lost and now your boss does it for you.  The kid’s soccer schedules.  That appointment.  The never-ending task lists.  You are reliant on somebody else for your deadlines.   Suddenly you were left to do it yourself and somehow you have forgotten how.

There is freedom in being your boss. No more yearly performance reviews or asking for time off.  You set the standards, the expectation, the what, the when, and the how’s.  But it is all on you and your ability to motivate yourself.  

Self-motivation is a lost skill that desperately needs to be learned and rehomed as we move towards working from home and more and more people are working for themselves.   This country was built on pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and getting it done because that was the only way you were going to succeed, no one else was going to do it for you.

I recently got a dog.  I had been talking about getting one for a while and a friend showed up at my house one day with a dog.  He is too cute to say no to. Bruno gets up about 20 minutes before my alarm normally goes off.  It is not that big a deal.  It is only 20 min.  But without him, I would turn my alarm off and snooze until I felt like getting up.  This is not possible with a dog.

I still make it to my desk at the same time I used to.  But now instead of dragging myself there moments before the first meeting, I am awake and ready to start my day.  I would get to my desk in my PJs clutching my coffee as the life-giving elixir that it is.  Now I get there fully dressed, breakfast done, and I even get a walk-in.  While it is still all on me, that little push in the morning has made a huge difference. 

We can do this. We can motivate ourselves to be better, to get it done, and to accomplish our goals.