The Quixotic Life: Motivation

mo·ti·va·tion/ˌmōtəˈvāSHən/

Noun:

The reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way.
The general desire or willingness of someone to do something.

[Source here]

What motivates people? How can a normal chump get a slice of champion-level motivation? This is a question that interests me very much, and it seems I'm not alone. There are seemingly endless articles by psychologists, trainers, life coaches, newspapers, casual bloggers, etc. that you can trawl through if you're so inclined. You could sink hours reading up on the subject but, if you're anything like me, even the most excellent articles will provide only the temporary boost that evaporates the second the alarm sounds at stupid-o'-clock in the morning. That said, what's the point in writing this blog post?

The motivation-killer

My (frank) answer: "For me".

This blog was supposed to motivate me to try new things, guilt me out of my comfort zone. The problem with that plan? If I lack the motivation to blog, how can the blog motivate my lazy ass out of the front door to try something out of the comfort zone? It's not like I have thousands of readers to let down. In considering the question I realised that the mere presence of the blog was enough to push me to new things, even if I wasn't blogging. It had me reflecting on my source of motivation, had me reading articles and watching YouTube clips, even though I wasn't writing or planning new posts. So this blog, in its own strange way, is a source of motivation for me.

What gets you out for a run at dawn?

What else motivates me? I don't know, to be completely honest.

Sometimes it's a sense of duty to others (charity marathon, volunteering), to friends (getting up at stupid times to make cakes or travel), or to myself (studying, exercising, dietary improvement). Sometimes it's seeing friends improving, showing me the way. Sometimes it's the push from an article (Jason Ferruggia & Arnold Schwarzenegger are particularly fine examples in my case) or YouTube compilation (a few clips that work for me below) or just watching the incredible athletes on TV, especially during the recent Olympics and (no doubt) the upcoming Paralympics. Sometimes it's to prove to myself that I'm not letting a fear of failure crush my development.

But sometimes it's none of those. Sometimes 'just because' is enough to push me out the door for that first step. After all, "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step" - Lao Tzu.

So maybe it's time to stop looking for motivation and to take action just because. The motivation we're all looking for is probably just buried inside, waiting for that first step.