Motivation Monday? The Never-Ending Struggle With Self-Motivation

I'm always amazed by how hard it is to be motivated to do certain things. I started this series of publishing my writing 4 times a week only a few days ago and already it has taken a fair bit of self-forcing to get myself to this point, part way through the first paragraph of today's blog. Yes, there were other reasons for not doing this until 7pm today. First, I worked for 8 hours. Second, I spent over an hour today reading (On the Road by Jack Kerouac I don't hear you asking).

It's a funny thing how shortsighted we can be when it comes to certain things in life. We want something but we struggle to put the effort in to achieve or get it. We want to get fit and have a more athletic figure but find it immensely difficult to force ourselves to exercise. We want to cook and eat more healthily, which we manage for a few days or a week, but tiredness hits and then we order a takeaway or snack on things we shouldn't. At first we call it a cheat meal or a cheat day, then it becomes the norm. We want to make friends and socialise more, but it's easier to spend Saturday night at home watching a film. We want to be creative and actually do something with our lives, but it's a challenge when you're staring at the blank blog page and are lacking inspiration.

It's a never-ending struggle. Where do you get motivation? Self-forcing works for a short amount of time, but if your heart isn't in it and you don't absorb it into your daily routine reasonably quickly then it always feels like you're doing the abnormal instead of a routine activity. If we exercise at set times for set periods then it's a routine and easier to continue once you've started. So maybe that's the answer for this blog. But exercise doesn't require too much creativity or brain power. Follow the instructor, do the right moves at the right time, push hard for the full session and you'll get your results. For a creative exercise it's a much different kettle of fish.

I find when it comes to writing that when I'm in the mood and have a small hint of inspiration, I get a rhythm and words and thoughts flow with ease. In one of these moods I can just write and write. Let's hope that as I start to write more regularly these moods come around more often as the thing with self-motivation is that it usually runs out pretty quickly.