bythemethod.com blog

There is a wise old saying (not sure where it came from) that goes “failing to plan is planning to fail”. There is a great deal of truth in this saying and not least when it comes to being motivated.

We misunderstand motivation if we see it as being pumped up for a task. I guess we’ve all seen the films and T.V. programmes where the sports coach or leader gives a very stirrying speach about winning and what it means and then all the players/followers/soldiers/etc are all “up for it” and they go charging out to overcome the opposition. This isn’t motivation in the real world. It’s nice to get pumped up and determined for a while but being motivated is also about slogging through when things seem to be going wrong.

This is when we keep our focus on the prize but even more so when the plan becomes very important. You know it is very easy to become distracted from the purpose of what you are trying to achieve. Without a plan you can so easily go down paths that will lead you to more disappointment and failure. So you must have a plan if you are going to manage to keep going and the trick is to make your plan when things seem reasonably easy so you can keep going when things get tough. Of course, if things never seem easy then you will have to plan anyway.

So remember your goal and think about how you are going to get there. What things will you need on the way? How will you get those things? What people can help you to succeed? How can you get them to support/help you?

Make your plan of action and write it down. Then keep referring to it so you know what you are supposed to be doing. You will discover that just having the plan will be a big boost when it comes to getting some motivation to keep going.