It’s tempting to feel like you have to wait to get motivated before you take any action. When the truth is, getting going will put wind in your sails and get your motivation humming. I mean, you can’t sit in a car and wait for the key to feel like turning itself. You’ve got to turn the key.
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So how do you get yourself going when you aren’t motivated? You’ve got to take it one rock at a time.
I went to college in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And one thing we did for fun was go hang out near the Maury River. Sometimes we’d tube down it. And other times we’d go to a spot that had a bunch of rocks and small falls. Then we’d drink beer and try to get to the other side of the river without falling in by hopping from rock to rock. Hey, it was college!
This weekend activity taught me a ton about how to go about, well, life. The first few times we went I would try to stand on the bank of the river and plot the course I’d take to get to the other side. Well, guess how well that worked. The thing is, that path that looks like a sure thing from the river bank looks a lot different once you’re a few rocks out. Once you get a few rocks in, you see that the next rock is slimy and too slippery. Or maybe just a little bit too far for you to reach. What it taught me is that you don’t have to have a path all mapped out in order to get started.
You just have to choose that first rock.
From there, you just take it one step at a time. Continuing to find the next best rock.
It’s the same with building your motivation
You just get started. Begin with the nearest, most appealing rock. Once you’ve done that one thing, it will become clear what the next best rock is for you.
Yes, it might mean you have to backtrack and change directions sometimes. But the only way to get across the river is to get out into it.
Funny that one of the most important things I learned in college came from NOT being in class, but I digress.
Daily Tiny Assignment
So your tiny assignment for today is to think about something you’ve been waiting for the motivation to tackle. And just pick that first action. That first rock, to step onto. From there, you’ll be able to see more of the path ahead. And the next rock will make itself apparent.
Come back tomorrow
when I’m interviewing YA author Hayley Krischer, author of the amazing and important book about sexual assault, Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf. Hayley worked on this book, which is her first, for over 20 years, and she’s got a thing or two to share about how to get motivated, as well as how to sustain it over the long haul.
