“What’s my motivation?” asks the overpaid actor with an ego that needs its own zip code. This is the image that always comes to mind when people tell me they need motivation in order to get going. As if it’s gas to their car. As if they can’t move without it. But it’s a faulty train of thought. You don’t have to be motivated to do hard things. You have to do hard things FIRST. And your motivation tank gets filled AFTER.”
Yesterday, I emphasized how motivated I am. And I am. I have some very powerful ‘why’s’.
But the flip side of that (chicken or egg, cart or horse), is that sometimes I wake up and there is no motivation. There is down-to-the-bone exhaustion.
On those days, I have a secret weapon.
It’s called a S.C.H.E.D.U.L.E. Whether I feel like it or not, I get up at 5 a.m., I have a prayer time at 5:15 a.m. I do my farm chores and exercise at 5:45 a.m. Shower & get dressed at 6:15. Wake my daughter and get her ready and out the door for school from 6:30 to 7:00 a.m. Then I write.
From 8 to 9:30, I take care of current properties under contract.
Then at 9:30 a.m., I pick up the phone and start calling – I call cash offer leads, I call probate leads, I call open house contacts, I call referrals.
When I first start, the phone weights 10,000 lbs, and the inclination to procrastinate is strong. By 10:00, it weighs half that, and by the time the clock hits 10:30, I’m motivated to keep going because I’ve usually had at least one good conversation.
And that’s the real secret – motivation follows action. And usually, the more challenging the action you take, the more uncomfortable, the more out of your ‘comfort zone’, the more motivation you feel once you just do it.
So that’s it. That’s my secret weapon – I just follow my schedule whether I feel like it or not.
Because I know that, being human, my emotions will wax and wane.
But once I just get up and get going and start executing, the motivation inevitably follows.
So that’s my not-so-secret secret to success.
Lastly, I just want to share a Christian song I like to sing; part of it goes like this:
“Don’t wait for an inspiration, That’s the subtle enemy.
Open up, Release your spirit, Testifying you are free!