19 Mar How long does motivation last?
Motivation doesn’t last long and it’s rather unthinkable to reach an ambitious goal through motivation alone. What will you do in times when you are not motivated? Why do you take a step forward and two steps back? Do you really believe that those times won’t happen to you, or that that just looking in the mirror and repeating the motivational phrases you were taught in a course can get you back on track?
Science, psychology and experience all tell us that we are creatures of habit: 45% of our behaviour and 95% of our thoughts are habits. If you build effective routines, you reach your goal naturally – though it will still be difficult to do so. Motivation is actually only needed in times when you are facing an obstacle, when your routines no longer work and you have to change something.
We need to create new routines and remain open and flexible to failure, and when things don’t work for us anymore, we must take a moment to stop, rethink our plan and change it up again.
Motivation is essential, it’s like the emergency fuel that is needed when things go wrong.
The formula for success is always “the same”:
A specific vision
Choose a direction that you really want to undertake, one that adds wealth and value to you or your company, an inventive direction, however difficult it may be, which is not the result of external pressures.
The ability to create effective routines
Call it perseverance if you want, but routines become natural behaviours and, as such, are almost effortless. The problem is that these routines can be become obsolete, rendering them difficult and useless, so one must learn how to change them
The ability to recognize one’s mistakes
Without blaming others and/or complaining – and by being able to change one’s routines by interpreting the reality of the situation. This is the moment when most individuals fail and continue to perpetuate the same, unsuccessful strategies that won’t lead them anywhere. No, not even if you’ve been swimming in a pool of hot coals.