How To Stay Motivated With Your Creative Goal
How To Stay Motivated With Your Creative Goal
One question we get a lot from listeners is “How do I stay motivated with a project or goal?” People find that they start something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and then as the feeling of motivation fades, willpower kicks in, and then that runs out too. Then what? That’s the point where most people quit.
So today we want to talk about how to maintain those excited feelings of motivation and enthusiasm for your creative goal or project so you can actually complete your project and achieve your goal!
What to do when motivation & willpower start to fade?
The first thing you need to know is that motivation and willpower WILL fade and drop off. There WILL be days and weeks where you don’t feel like continuing a goal you’ve committed to.
And because of that, you have to separate your ability to take action from how you feel.
The action you take can’t be reliant on your feelings!
For example… This week I am physically and emotionally tired -- and not super motivated. I have gotten up early to work before my kids wake up every weekday for the last two years or more (unless I was sick).
But this week I’m feeling very tempted to just stay in bed. Not in the way of self care and getting the rest I need, but in the way of avoiding work because it’s overwhelming or frustrating in some way.
So you could say I have very little motivation and willpower right now. :)
But here’s what I do have: established trust in myself, powerful reasons why I want to do my work, and a plan to make my goals happen.
Because of that, I’m able to look at my emotions and separate from them a bit. I’m not going to ignore them, but I’m not going to attach to them either.
If I attached to these feelings, I’d start making them mean things like, “Maybe none of this is working.” “Maybe I’m not doing the right things.” “Maybe it’s not worth it anymore.”
Instead, I can look at the emotions for what they are trying to tell me (which I think is, “You need a break pretty soon.”). I’m going to listen, make adjustments to my plan, and still follow through on my commitments to myself.
I think the key is not making decisions about actions in the middle of big emotions. Separating your action-taking from your in-the-moment feelings.
3 reasons you’re not following through on your goals
So we understand that we can’t rely on motivation or willpower in the long term. The plan to achieve our goal has to work even if we don’t feel like following through.
If you find yourself in this position of not following through when you lose motivation, I think it can be a symptom of one of three things.
1. You have a plan for your goal that’s too complicated (or you’re changing too many things at once)
2. You don’t actually want this goal -- or you don’t have a clear enough reason why you do
3. Your actions haven’t caught up to your new thoughts
Let’s talk about those three reasons and how to solve for each one.
1. You have a plan for your goal that’s too complicated (or you’re changing too many things at once)
One thing that often happens when people set goals is that they change A LOT of things at once. I used to do this, thinking I could overhaul my entire life with a new set of goals. “Might as well change everything at once!”
But humans just don’t work like that. Our brains are adapted to a certain way of thinking, feeling, and doing. When we try to change too many things, it’s way too exhausting and requires way too many new decisions to be made based on willpower.
The solution: Change one thing at a time. Keep your goal simple and doable.
2. You don’t actually want this goal -- or you don’t have a clear enough reason why you do
Another reason we find ourselves giving up on our goal is because we don’t remember WHY we wanted to do it. In this case, we have to look closer to determine if this goal is truly aligned with what WE want from our lives or if we think it’s something we’re “supposed to do.”
If it is something we truly want, we need to articulate the reason why. In our Patreon session, this is something I included in the goal-setting process because it’s so important to have this to fall back on when things get hard. We quickly forget if it’s not articulated and written down for these moments.
The solution: Be able to clearly articulate and write down your “WHY” - Write down your reason for why you’re working on this creative goal or project and why it’s important to you.
3. Your actions haven’t caught up to your new thoughts
Often when we decide to do something new, it goes against the grain of our past beliefs and thoughts. So we lay out a plan of action, but our thoughts haven’t yet shifted to accommodate those actions.
When our actions and thoughts aren’t lining up, we experience dissonance. It can show up with thoughts like, “What am I even doing?” “Why did I think I could do this?”
We feel like we aren’t aligned any longer and it’s uncomfortable.
The solution: You need to align with the NEW beliefs and thoughts that will be required. This can be harder because it’s not an action you can take or a task to check off your list.
It requires actively changing how you think and what you believe. “I CAN do this.” “I’m uncomfortable but I’m figuring this out.” “It’s time to shift into a new version of myself.”
Action step: Start practicing these NEW thoughts and give them time to marinate and take root as your experiment with your new actions.
Want to listen in on our conversation?
Click below or on apple podcasts & choose episode 141 to listen to the full podcast episode.
You can also search The Progress Project on any podcast app including Spotify!
Podcast Ep. 141 How To Stay Motivated With Your Creative Goal
One question we get a lot from listeners is “How do I stay motivated with my project or goal?” People find that they start something with a lot of energy and enthusiasm and then as the feeling of motivation fades, willpower kicks in, and then that runs out too. Then what? That’s the point where most people quit.
Listen in to learn:
How to maintain motivation and enthusiasm for your creative goal
3 reasons you’re not following through on your goal
The incredibly powerful mindset shift that can change everything about how you set goals
This aligns perfectly with our premium content on Patreon this session, which is about setting creative goals. We’re challenging our patrons (and ourselves!) to start and finish a creative project in 6 weeks. This month you can join in on our group goal-setting effort, by going to jointheprogressproject.com/patreon to sign up for just $5/month.
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Ep. 138 How To Feel Your Feelings
