Because, cmon, motivation and discipline are words that other people use to tell me why I’m not perfect. Only I know I’m not perfect and that’s not what I have a problem with. My problem is how I need to get things done that I DON’T like doing. The things that are either so boring I will be smacking my own head or so scary that my stomach clenches and I feel sick. Either one will fill my head with sand and my whole body with weights. That sounds great, let’s move more sloooowwwwllllyyy through a task that already sucks!
Or not. But how you ask? First off, acknowledge how hard/boring/scary/awful/awkward your task is. Lying to yourself that this is going to be easy won’t make it go faster. Most of the time when we rate a task under its actual difficulty level, we just get mean to ourselves later about how hard it actually was. Skip that! You have enough negative voices in the world around you. Don’t set up a situation where you’ll get negative on yourself. List out the reasons that this will be bad and then you’ll have more grace towards yourself whatever happens.
Break this down, WAY down. Let’s say you need to make a phone call that will not go well. You have bad news to give, the other person doesn’t like you, and they will attempt to argue no matter what you say. If you look at that head on, it will always seem like a wall falling on you. So break it down so far that you will have a number of success stories before you get to the actual call. So the list looks like
- Find that phone #
- Write an outline of what I need to say, any questions I need to ask
- What’s my back-up, forward my outline to someone?
- What info will I need in front of me for this call?
- Get that info and have it on hand
Notice that I made the first thing the easiest. Find that phone number and voila! I can check something off. You’ll also notice that once I let myself in on how bad this will be, I start making a plan that matches that reality. This list calls for back-up, getting my information together, and having a clear idea of what I have to say. I see a lot of my clients prepare for the call they wish would happen and then get eaten by the call they knew was coming. Acknowledge! Validate! If you don’t want to make this call/ start that diet/ go look for a new job, there is a good reason and lying to yourself won’t make it go away.
Now move. Any movement on the task will be good. Once you’re in motion it’s easier to keep going. So pick the smallest easiest thing, get it done, feel that rush of checking it off, and then head into the next thing. If the task involves some kind of performance (any moment you will be talking and feel judged) then practicing is movement. Talk to yourself in the mirror, have the conversation in the car on your way to work, try out different approaches. Laugh all you want, but I practice testimony in the shower. Wherever, however.
Reward yourself throughout the process. A list can be its own reward as you check off the tasks you’ve gotten done. Gloat when you can put that checkmark there. It will help get you through the process. Also think about small breaks, allowing yourself treats, and calling friends when you’ve gotten something done. This can feel weird. A lot of us are more used to attempting motivation through shame and fear. But those don’t work! Write a list of activities under five minutes and small treats that you will feel good about. You will be amazed at how much more motivating it is to reward yourself.
Now all of this will go crap-side-up if you get caught in perfection. The only perfect things are statues, that don’t move, and therefore can’t get anything done. My favorite quote on this is from Tim Ferriss and to paraphrase it, “The half assed plan you’ll stick with always works better than the perfect plan that fails.” My add to that is, “All perfect plans fail.” When you can’t think of what to do next and you feel overwhelmed by even the little tasks on your broken down list, please, for the love of all that is good and holy, Half-ass that sucker! It will give you the freedom to get moving. And once you’re moving…you’re likely to keep moving.
