Motivation, marshmallows and the death of a dream

Motivation is a fickle monster that needs to be tamed. And the lesson I learned in the past three years is that, out of all the tools provided, death is one of the greatest motivators. ​

Do not get me wrong, sometimes I hear people talking about willpower, and how some train to be intense, and yes, mate, while the Force is strong with this one, willpower alone will never let you achieve majestic, outstanding things. Willpower alone is not enough, as you fight against the current, and sooner or later you will get tired. As I was addicted to some normal stuff like sugar and caffeine, I can say that willpower will work for a while, but what I find useful is to work with myself and my habits, instead of working against my nature. What is working for me is to wean it out, and gradually adopt healthy, opposed habits - for example, instead of having too much chocolate and cakes, I may choose a snack of fruits or nuts.

Coming back to the beginning, once you are motivated and create a habit, this will become part of you, and will be naturally aligned with your interests. Willpower will never work like this, as it is a totally different process. And this is something that I say, being quite stubborn by nature. What is your motivation? How do you keep it alive? I would say that our interests, our dreams, and our passions are the engines of this one, but I may be wrong. What do you think? How did your motivation is created and maintained? What happened when the motivation is decreasing? Why?

These are some interesting questions, and if I knew the answers to them, I would have been a very rich guy. Motivation is needed in everything we do. Advancing at work, keeping fit, eating right, sleeping well, not abusing our body, car, family, basically, everything good in our life is tied to a decent motivation. Dang, even our life quality depends on this. Being motivated to live a healthy life is a key to a longer life, and being able to go on and do the right thing, even when it is hard, especially when it is hard, is the pathway to happiness.

And being aware of your own mortality may be the trick to unlocking the godlike motivation skill. Nothing will make you more willing to do stuff that the realization that, at any moment, you may cease to exist. You may make plans, and you may improve your odds, but, in the end, every new day is a gift. Is a new chance to live the life you need and deserve. When death is around, every petty reason, every temptation, and most of the problems, suddenly become irrelevant. If you listen deeply, to your heart, that is the moment when you can find what really matters. What is important for you? Make a list, and write the 5 most important things in your life.

Then, for a week, keep a journal and write hourly about how you spend your time. After one week, analyze that and check how much time you spend on what really matters. You will be surprised. After you take out the time when you work, sleep, eat, hygiene, and tv/phone, how much free time do you have to dedicate to what is important to you? Not that much, isn't it? (Note: If you have a lot of free time, to do important stuff, please comment and tell me your technique, I am curious about it.)

I was reading yesterday that at any time, most of us have on average 40-45 hours of unfinished, not-so-important business, and if we are trying to catch up, not only we will never will, but we will never allocate enough time for the important stuff. Playing the catch-up game is how we deny ourselves greatness. We need clear targets. We need to know our life mission. And we need to allocate time blocks to work on that, to improve and become better at it.

And now my time to write passed, and sadly I need to deal with some family hospital emergency.

See you tomorrow.
(Be wise! Be Super!)

George
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