We all go through “phases”. Right now I’m on a health kick; I’ve avoided fried food, I’ve been drinking my coffee black to stay away from refined sugar, and I’ve been going to the gym 5-7 days a week depending on the week (whether I’m babysitting or if I have an event to go to).
I’m also reading Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg, which has given me a lot of motivation to better my career and make myself more marketable; to really build my brand and “lean in” to my career.
Before, I’ve squashed my motivation to do things with thoughts like “why bother if it’s not going to stick?” or “well, I’ll never stick with it, so there’s no point in starting”.
I am definitely realizing how foolish this is. It might be “onto the next thing” in a month, but I’ve been learning that I need to embrace my motivation to really kick it up a notch while I have it – because sometimes, it’s fleeting (or, other things vie for my attention).
Why You Should Embrace Motivation While You Have It, Too
In 2011, I lost 22 lbs through diet and exercise. It took me six months to do so, and it improved my fitness, my health, and my self confidence.
Then, I lost motivation to continue losing weight, or even to maintain my weight, and I gained about ten pounds back.
At the end of the day, even though the motivation was temporary, I am now still 12 pounds lighter than I was in 2011 when I first started my weight loss challenge, which is a whole lot better than zero pounds lighter and still wallowing in self pity because I’d gained weight.
Now that I’m on a health kick again, I’ve been able to shed another few pounds, so now I only have six to go to get back to the weight I was at when I had lost the 22. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it is a LOT closer than it would have been if I were at my pre-weight loss weight.
Even if you aren’t looking to lose weight, being healthy for six weeks and then going back to your unhealthy ways is substantially better than being unhealthy always.
Paying off $1000 of debt aggressively while you are on a debt-payoff kick is much better than paying of $0 aggressively while making your minimum payments.
If you embrace your motivation while you have it, you won’t regret it
I’ve frequently started projects that I have lost interest in or that I haven’t had the time to finish. They’ve been left on the sidelines when I have dropped them, but they have never disappeared.
Even this blog started on a whim. It was a project that I definitely did drop for a little while when my motivation waned. It didn’t disappear, and when I started taking it more seriously, I already had the foundation of the blog set up. Half the mountain had already been conquered. I’d already posted and networked and started a Twitter account and Gmail account. I was already established, and it was waiting for me to spend more time on it.
Cleaning half of your house is better than cleaning none of it. Taking half of the courses that you need for a designation is better than taking none of them. If it’s something that you truly want, your motivation may ebb, but it will almost always flow back and you’ll be glad that you started the project in the first place.
Even if you fail, you’ll learn from it
I’ve tried to start projects that I thought would turn into great business opportunities, but they didn’t pan out. I do not see them as a waste of time and money at all. I see them as steps that have helped me be successful now.
I learned from my failed projects, even if it was just me learning that it’s not something that I really wanted to do in the first place.
Failing at something is better than wondering, 5 years down the road, what it would have been like to do it.
Phases build memories
I was talking to a friend who was really into dancing for a couple of years. She’d traveled with her class, going to performances and competitions. She spent a lot of money on the opportunity to build her dancing skills. She told me about this and then, right after, said “it was just a silly phase that I went through that I didn’t stick with”.
Even if it’s a phase, it’s something that you get to experience. It’s another thing checked off of your bucket list, even if you only stuck with it for a couple of months. It’s something that you can tell your kids that you did – or at least tried to do. It’s something that you can remember.
Even if you know you won’t stick with something, do it anyway. Embrace your motivation when you have it!
Are you good at embracing your motivation?
Awesome advice! I’m a phase girl myself. And your right. Phases build memories. And sometimes just sometimes that phase becomes an unexpected pivotal moment in your life. Life is unpredictable.
This post has me chuckling over my lunch. Of all the motivational, to-do list bettering, how-to-be-organised, coping with an existential crisis books I’ve read (and I have read a LOT of this junk) I have never seen it put this way before.
You have honestly blown my mind a little bit with the most simple idea. I really struggle with all of this but when I turn all those little failed or discontinued projects and ideas on their heads and look at it the way you describe it here – well I feel like the most amazing over-achiever ever born.
THANK YOU.
I’m glad it was different, Emma. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
It’s sometimes a struggle to do the writing for my second blog that I’m trying to get off the ground as a solo project. But, when I have the motivation, I can do it fairly quickly and it feels good to accomplish something. Its much easier to do something when you feel like it!
I have been really good with my health and fitness. I have been eating healthier, eating out way less, and working out 5x a week. I rest for two days to let my body heal and recover.
I am struggling with other parts of my life though. It’s hard to stay motivated at work right now. So hard… I keep up with the blog, but I’m still trying to figure out a balance between writing for fun and monetizing. The truth is, I really really want to monetize it. I’m just trying to figure out how.
I’m also struggling with finding enough time to do everything. It seems like everyone has great expectations of me.
Health phases for me are definitely one of the easiest to get in and out of. We were running so regularly then my hubs had exams and we haven’t been back out. It’s actually really hard for me, so we def. need to get cracking and pick it back up again.
I´m a typical phase girl too. I´ve often felt more like a loser when I´ve not carried through a project, but I guess it`s better than not starting any project at all!
This is great advice! It’s better to seize the moment and take advantage of enthusiasm instead of just staying on a steady course the whole time. Good luck with losing those last 6 pounds!
I love the thesis of your post. Something is always better than nothing, just because you might now win doesn’t mean you should try. I also started my blog during a period of extreme motivation. Anything valuable ive ever created has come from my motivation swings
You are right. We have to get motivated and stay motivated to get rid of unhealthy ways. Motivation is important if we want to accomplish our personal health and fitness goals.
Great post!! I always try my best to take advantage of my motivation. Even if you try and fail, you will learn from it so when you get back into it, you’ll be that much more ahead because you won’t be making that mistake again.
So true! Better to do something really aggressively for a while then fall off the bandwagon so to speak, then to never try. I need to take that advice for my exercise and eating healthy plan. Better to exercise aggressively for 5 days a week then cut back to 2 when I get tired, then not exercise at all.
So I have this post in my queue titled “Take advantage of spurts of productivity” because I know my productivity comes and goes in waves! I try to do as much as possible when I am productive and not get to down on myself when I am feeling super lazy. Although you’ve pretty much said it here, not sure I need to write my post now!
Great advice Daisy! Seize the moment when it hits you and you won’t regret it!
This is a really interesting way of putting things, and I can see how for some areas of my life, the non-perfectionist “something is better than nothing” mindset is exactly right.
However, I think in other areas it is better for me NOT to go through booms and busts (think of the emotional equivalent of a yo-yo diet). I am a very extreme person by nature, and psychologically it is tougher for me to do something moderate and maintain it than it is to go through phases. Instead of working 12 hour days one week and then being totally burnt out because I can’t sustain that, it’s better for me to be consistent about 8 hour days, even if some days I have to force myself to go home before my productivity has waned.
I wonder if anyone else has this issue, or if I am just a weirdo. 🙂
So much word!!! I’m on a big health kick right now because I’m trying to heal not just my shoulder, but the “inside” of my body as well. And I’m making a big decision about a career move..because it’s easy to fall back into a pattern that is “familiar” and “comfortable” but not right for you anymore. I’m trying to “lean in” to something new…even though there is no guarantee of success, but I know that going the other way is just going to make me miserable…albeit a few more bucks. Not worth it.
Very sound advice. Motivation is a very big factor in achieving one’s goals. We do not have it at all times so we have to grab it while we have it.
This a great post Daisy. I think this especially applies to fitness and living a healthy lifestyle. When you motivation often times it’s more than just the activity it’s the learning behind it. So when you come back to it, it’s usually easier to start up again, such as running or lifting weights, and you also have all of the knowledge that you gained during your previous spurt to back up your work. And like you said, it’s better to have something done than nothing at all.