Trying to stay motivated...

[-God-]

"You want to know why I'm on top of the game? It's because everybody else is too busy pushing themselves lower. They're too lazy, too weak, and too ignorant to realize the massive opportunity that's in front of them for the taking. Every sucker out there with a 9 - 5 would kill for the information we know and the skills we have just so that they could make a fraction of what we're able to make. Hell, ten years from now when the people who had the balls to make moves are sitting on their fortunes every single one of these pussies will be kicking themselves for being in the right place, at the right time, but not doing a damn thing to take advantage of it. The ones who will piss and moan then, are the ones who are pissing and moaning now."

Great post. +Rep

I remember a story someone told me about 10 years ago when getting into direct mail, which i've always liked and he used to describe his work.

Imagine you have a big old money printing machine, with a big old heavy handle that turned huge heavy cumbersome rollers. It takes about an hour to get the thing going and is extremely tiring. Once you get it going however, keeping it going is fairly simple. For every minute the machine runs at full speed it pumps out a £5 note.

How many hours do you put in? How much sleep do you have? If you neglect sleep, will you be able to make the machine pump out the same money, or will it take longer to get going and be harder to keep going? Would you actually spend your time doing anything else?

 

[Russ86]

You're looking for motivation? It's all about that split second decision when you make up your mind whether you should get started with building something, or plant your lazy ass on the couch. That single split second when you wake up.

Seize the second and you seize the day.

This ^

 

[Rich.]

Success should be your motivating factor, some success should motivate you to more success. If not, what are your goals? Do you want a situation where you have an income with no effort, maybe you are looking for a lifestyle business instead. Read 4HWW by Tim Ferriss and get a dreamline going, and focus on what motivates you after you know.

 

[supportomatic]

1) Break down all your projects into tasks, and then keep breaking down all tasks into smaller subtasks. You should be able to visualize yourself finishing each such subtask in one "sitting". (When I say visualize, I don't mean the affirmation shit.) You simply need to keep breaking tasks down into subtasks until the thing (that needs to be done) you are starring at can be completed right away.

The appearance of a task having no end in sight is the #1 reason for feeling of anxious and overwhelmed before you even get started. That pushes your brain into thinking up shit to delay having to start.

Once you remove that feeling -- by making the "first task" much smaller -- you are good to go.

That's gold right there. I've got a bunch of good projects sitting on the shelf because they're just mentally overwhelming and there's always some invented reason to put them off. I need to break 'em down into granular tasks and get to work on the stuff that can be done today.

I'm the worst at "inventing" pointless busy work that gets in the way of getting real work done.

 

[Jabberwokky]

I find daily "to do" lists work wonders. It's daunting to start, but once I do I can't stop until I finish everything on that list. Works for me!

 

[eliquid]

I can't sleep, I am so excited about something and want to keep working.

bro, me too... i thought i was the only one and i kept this shame a secret for a long time, thanks for outing this.. now i dont feel so alone in the world.

 

[turbolapp]

You guys act like you've never run across burn out. Everyone in this business has run across it now and then.

Happens to me every few months or so. I've been going non stop, 24/7 and suddenly just hit a wall. It used to tear me up. I would turn in on myself and say what the hell is wrong with me? Soon you just learn to recognize the signs, take a break (whether it be a few hours a few days or a few weeks) and enjoy it. Do really fun or no brainer stuff. The key for me has been to just keep my business stuff in the back of my mind so that when I'm vegging on the couch acting like a total lazy ass bum, watching a Buffy episode I've already seen 13 times before, when an idea strikes I'll say to myself "shut up I'm watching buffy" if the idea still niggles in my brain 5 minutes later, I know i"m usually over the burn out hump and get back to crushing it.

 

[eliquid]

so, what happens to the treadmill? no use at all during your vegg out? ^^

 

[zimok]

Watch this video and try what this guy tells you to do - focusing on the task at hand. It works.

YouTube - Irresistable Instant Motivation

I logged on to WF twice today, once was to +rep DKPMO to post this video and now.

Why now?

Because everyone needs to watch this video.

It's a deceptively simple concept that you will have used thousands of times throughout your life naturally - the secret comes from the fact that once you have this technique in your consciousness you can use it to feel good about doing something you don't want to do.

I used it last night by trying it on the first task I didn't feel like doing (organizing 10k songs restored from a backup), something I had been putting off.

I imagined myself sitting back and enjoying a song once I had finished sorting the music and imagined it hard enough to actually get the satisfaction from having completed the task. Once I already had the satisfaction it seems like my thoughts were pulling me into the task rather than pushing myself into doing it.

I flowed through and finished organizing the music 7 hours after I imagined myself having completed it. I only ever have motivation problems starting something I don't feel like doing, so this technique is A+++ for that.

Nothing else to say except try it and see if it works for you.

 

[nvanprooyen]

You're looking for motivation? It's all about that split second decision when you make up your mind whether you should get started with building something, or plant your lazy ass on the couch. That single split second when you wake up.

Your lazy brain tells you, "uuuuggggggghhh I'm sooooo lazy dude, and your lazy ass agrees with me, totally, so it's 2 against 1, let's play videogames for an hour and then maybeeeeee we'll think about the other thing". It's no surprise that your lazy brain is arguing in such a sophisticated manner because, naturally, vegging out on the couch is the definition of lazy, which your lazy brain connects with quite well.

Lazy and lazy go well together. Actually sitting down and building something is the opposite of lazy. Your brain has been trained throughout many many videogame sessions to take up this attitude.

The thing is, once you've sat down and gotten started, it will only take your brain 5 minutes to overcome that laziness because deep down, all those lazy little cells of yours like being challenged. Especially if their bros in the other half of your brain get all excited over something like a conversion or two or three. If you can get three of those, maybe you can get 300? Just imagine how much excitement that will entail in your formerly lazy brain. And what about 3000? 300,000? Wow. There's a taste of success, baby.

But here's the thing: you, you're not even getting to that point. You will never get to that point. You will never in your life get to the point where your whole brain and body jump up and say "YES! I DID IT!". Why not?

Because you can't even manage to take control over that tiny little single split second in which your lazy-ass mind makes itself up for you.

Seize the second and you seize the day.

This is really solid advice. Just start, break the cycle and push through the first 10 minutes. Once you're on a roll the hours fly by. Do it enough and it becomes habit.

 

[DKPMO]

I logged on to WF twice today, once was to +rep DKPMO to post this video and now.

Why now?

Because everyone needs to watch this video.

It's a deceptively simple concept that you will have used thousands of times throughout your life naturally - the secret comes from the fact that once you have this technique in your consciousness you can use it to feel good about doing something you don't want to do.

I used it last night by trying it on the first task I didn't feel like doing (organizing 10k songs restored from a backup), something I had been putting off.

I imagined myself sitting back and enjoying a song once I had finished sorting the music and imagined it hard enough to actually get the satisfaction from having completed the task. Once I already had the satisfaction it seems like my thoughts were pulling me into the task rather than pushing myself into doing it.

I flowed through and finished organizing the music 7 hours after I imagined myself having completed it. I only ever have motivation problems starting something I don't feel like doing, so this technique is A+++ for that.

Nothing else to say except try it and see if it works for you.

Glad this was helpful and thanks for the rep!

I might add that if you look carefully at the successful people you know, you might observe a common theme: they all feel good about the result of their work. Sometimes their reasons, stated or implied, might even seem strange or laughable to you, but as long as it makes them feel good it keeps them going. Conversely, the equivalent of running into a brick wall after trying something many times over is what could totally kill the motivation - when you are an inch from success.

Perhaps that is why successes or failures run in streaks. If you find yourself in a rut this tactic could help you turn the tide.

 

[conjamuk]

"You want to know why I'm on top of the game? It's because everybody else is too busy pushing themselves lower. They're too lazy, too weak, and too ignorant to realize the massive opportunity that's in front of them for the taking. Every sucker out there with a 9 - 5 would kill for the information we know and the skills we have just so that they could make a fraction of what we're able to make. Hell, ten years from now when the people who had the balls to make moves are sitting on their fortunes every single one of these pussies will be kicking themselves for being in the right place, at the right time, but not doing a damn thing to take advantage of it. The ones who will piss and moan then, are the ones who are pissing and moaning now."

+1 .