Motivation vs. Action
This article is based on the Cafe Grit Podcast, S3E42.
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I have a little calendar that I keep by my desk.
I got it for Christmas from my husband Sean. It is one of those little square tear-away calendars that you remove a page from every day. This one happens to be themed Working From Home. It has tips and tricks for remote working along with relative stories and quotes.
One of the recent quotes resonated with me a little bit:
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”
It’s a quote by a former track and field Olympian and politician named Jim Ryun.
My interpretation of this quote is this: After you find your motivation and get going on whatever it is you are trying to do…you keep that momentum by taking action and changing habits.
This is utter bullsh*t.
I completely disagree with this quote. In fact, I believe the opposite.
If you take action FIRST—toward the habit you are trying to change—you are going to change your brain and become motivated more frequently and more intensely than the other way around.
I believe that action spurs change in thought much more than thought spurs change in action.
I say this from lifelong experience in this realm, being the type of person who thinks a LOT about things. I plan and plan and think and wish and hope I’ll be inspired only to be disappointed. But when I take action, that's when things change. And my brain changes too.
Jim Ryun is saying that if you think about something and get inspired, you will then take action and create a habit. I contend the opposite is true.
My favorite story about this is when I was writing my book, “Where The Hell Is My Bacon”.
I was writing this book for about three years, and I had completed less than three chapters. Part of the issue was my insistence on perfection. If you're an author and you find yourself editing to the point of not making progress, just stop. Get your shitty draft on paper and then you can edit later.
But my bigger deterrent to writing progress was waiting to be motivated to write.
Motivation comes and goes.
When it comes, it is wonderful. I write like there is no tomorrow.
But motivation is fickle and fleeting. Sometimes months or even years go by with that bastard never showing their face for even a moment.
It took me three years to write three chapters in my first book. Then one day I was listening to Lauren Graham’s audiobook “Talking As Fast As I Can.” If you don’t know, Lauren Graham is an actress best known for the television shows The Gilmore Girls and Parenthood.
Lauren was talking about her own struggles with writing progress. She said she finally had to resort to setting a timer to build a habit. Every day she would sit down and write. Even if it wasn’t writing in her book, she disciplined herself to consistently put words on paper every day. Once she did that, she was able to complete her book.
Lauren was going through exactly the same thing as me. I was unmotivated, uninspired, lacked discipline, and nothing was happening.
So I took her advice to heart and I started making myself write every day. I got up, sat at my desk, and set a timer for 15 minutes. And like Lauren, it didn't matter what I wrote. I just had wrote.
Sometimes I wrote in my journal. Sometimes I wrote a social media post. Sometimes I wrote a blog or article. Sometimes I didn't write my book, but a lot of times I did, and eventually the motivation kicked in and I finally got on a regular cadence.
In just a few months I had completed my book.
I wrote three chapters in three years waiting for motivation. When I switched my focus to action, I wrote another eleven chapters in less than six months. BOOM!
I had BECOME motivated by taking action.
This philosophy works. You do have to keep up with the action, otherwise, your brain will become complacent. But it definitely works.
Does this theory work for things other than writing?
Absolutely!
Cleaning is another great example in my life. I know I need to clean (don’t even ask me about the Sanford and Son known as my home office), but unlike writing, I hate doing it. Loathe.
So I tend to wait to be motivated, wait for my brain to be in the right space to tackle something. I’ll be inspired to pull out the Swifter WetJet and a container of sweet-smelling, bacteria-killing wipes!
It never happens. I am rarely inspired to clean. I'm just not that person.
My only recourse is to take action. I don’t think about it too much—5-4-3-2-1—(thank you Mel Robbins). GO!
I physically go through the motions. Get a rag, set a timer, grab the wipes, where is the Windex?
My brain actually changes. I feel like I've accomplished something and that inspires me.
Discipline is not a bad word.
This is my advice to you: Action, then motivation.
As nice of a person as Jim Ryun may be, I think you should ignore his shitty advice and don't wait to develop a habit until you're motivated.
Take action first, and you will become motivated. Your brain will change and you'll thank me for it.
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Cafe Grit is a production of Beth Ann Campbell LLC. Thanks again for stopping by and remember, you are a f*cking rockstar. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Take it easy.
