My personal strategy and tactics on how to stay motivated.

A Leaky Bucket

This is how I like to think of motivation. It’s something you can add to, but slowly leaks as time goes on. Now, with every leaky bucket, there are two solutions—well, kinda. One option would be to add water very quickly to our bucket. If we add water faster than it can leak out, then problem solved, right? Well, how about we look at our second option. Instead of just avoiding the inevitable by continuing to fill the bucket, what if we instead tried to fix the cracks in the walls? This way, we won’t be wasting as much water, and we won’t have to worry about filling our bucket as quickly.

I think what happens to most people is that when looking to “regain motivation”, the try to just refill their bucket very quickly. Although this may work in the short-term, it becomes unsustainable in the long-run. That is why I consider this a fix, not a solution—because it does not solve the underlying issue.

It turns out that these holes in our bucket are shared by most people. Although everyone’s bucket may not look the same, these small cracks have similarities among everyone.

Don’t Get Burnt Out

In my opinion, the number 1 “demotivator” or largest crack in most people’s buckets comes from getting burnt out. I’ve got a whole post where I discuss ways to avoid burnout, but let me give you a quick run through of the three main tactics for avoiding burnout.

The first is to spend as much time as possible in a flow state. This will help you maximize not only productivity, but also enjoyment while working. A flow state can be achieved only when distractions are completely absent and there is a proper balance between the skill of the doer and the difficulty of the thing being done.

The second is to be realistic with your goals (obv if you don’t have any goals to begin with, this is an even bigger problem). Challenging but attainable and well spaced-out goals are like speed boosts in any well made racing game—they keep you engaged and make you feel like you’re on psychedelics!

The final principle is to stay patient. All good things come with time, and “there is no such thing as something for nothing” - Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.

High Quality People

Everything you consume has a major impact on your life. What you eat, how you entertain yourself, and most importantly, who you spend your time with. Surrounding yourself with high quality people is just as, if not more important, than eating right, exercising regularly, and not letting your kids watch R-rated movies when they’re 16 and a half.

Seriously though, if you’re surround with motivated people or people who you look up to, you’re gonna be a hell-of-a-lot more motivated than Joe Shmo who spends all his time with crackheads and 16-and-a-half-year-olds who sneak into R-rated movies at the movie theater.

Do what you love (I know)

The age-old advice. One day, I was sitting at my desk, wondering why I wasn’t motivated to write a certain AP World History essay. Then it hit me—I hate writing AP World History essays. The rest of the story doesn’t matter (partly because I got a 37 on the paper), but this really changed my expectations around motivation. How could I expect myself to be motivated to do something I didn’t want to? Don’t beat yourself up over not being motivated to do something you don’t want to—we’re just not built like that. However, it’s always important to look at the bigger picture. A good friend of mine once told me, “you must get past the bad suck, to get the good suck.”

Think Long Term—All the Time!

I briefly touched on setting goals and thinking about the bigger picture, but I want to emphasize why these things are so critical to staying motivated. Setting goals is a must. No one goes to the grocery store because they like going to the grocery store. People go to the grocery store so they can make a nice dinner for their family or so that they can enjoy a couple of beers and some bean dip with the bois while watching the game. Unless you’re just absolutely infatuated with the act of breathing, you’re going to need some solid long term goals to get you through some of the shittier things in life. No one wants to wait 20 minutes in line at Starbucks, but it’s way better than a divorce :)

Just Stay Motivated, Duh!

And those are my (wise) opinions on staying motivated! I hope you found any (or all) of it helpful and I’d love to hear some feedback in the comment section that I haven’t implemented yet!