How do you motivate yourself to write every week? How have you managed to be so regular at writing? What’s your inspiration? These are some of the common questions I get asked. Honestly, I never have answers to any of them. But, today I decided to find it, know what keeps me going.
I began by reading about motivation. One of the best definition I found is put forth by Psychologist Woodworth “Motivation is the state of the individual which disposes him to certain behaviour for seeking goal”
Woodworth’s definition made me think – if the motivation is a state which pushes a person to behave in a way to achieve goals, what is it that stops him? What makes achieving goals difficult? Why do we need motivation at all?
I began thinking and my mind reminded me of an incident that happened a week ago. I was at my worst. I wept like a baby for hours not knowing what to do. Motivation to do something was far-fetched, I was finding the motivation to live…
Then what happened? How did I pick myself up from pieces?
- Talking to my favourite humans
I don’t have too many people with whom I share my life struggles. I don’t like speaking or sharing my problems. I feel stupid to ask help, I feel shit to say that I have fucked up and I need help. This is exactly why I am an awkward human and can’t maintain friends as I don’t speak only.
But thankfully, at least with a few I have let go of such stupidity and opened up. The day I had a bad break down I spoke it all out. It wasn’t easy a bit. But I pushed myself and shared everything that was eating me up deep within.
Talking it out to my favourite humans helped me feel light, get a better perspective on what I was dealing with. It made me realize what I was doing right, where I was going wrong. The talk with all five favourite humans gave me a clear picture of what I can do to deal with my current situation.
- A reminder of my ultimate goal
Months back I read somewhere the importance of having one ultimate goal. After considering a few options, I figured my ultimate goal in life. I don’t wish to share it here, but you can have anything as an ultimate goal – own house, marriage, family, being rich etc. The day I was cracking up like a baby, I told myself that at this weeping rate I’ll never get to that goal.
- Reality check of work towards my goal
The next step after reminding myself of the goal, I did a proper check of how much I have worked towards it. A complete analysis of all my efforts till now. I appreciated myself for whatever I have managed to do so far. Little appreciation goes a long way, even if it comes from your own mouth.
Next, I plan further steps towards my ultimate goal. I take time to read, think and then finally come up with practical things to do in the next few months to achieve my goal. This helps me do my tasks planned for the month better.
- Being in nature
Whenever I spend time in nature, I realize how small my problems are. I have a walk in the night, look up at the sky, see stars, moon and think about where earth stands in the universe. How small are we all in the gamut of such a large universe.
I walk up mountains and pass by streams and see so many different creatures living around. Some fly, some crawl, some swim, it is all so overwhelming to see how all of them live, how their generations have existed on this planet for centuries.
I can never write down completely how nature heals me, how being in nature makes me feel good, loved, motivated etc. Above was a tiny attempt to express gratitude to nature for always being there, managing to make me smile every time I needed it.
- Music
Last, but definitely not the least is music. It’s the most subjective one from the other four I have listed. Everyone adapts a taste, a playlist and has their own set of go-to songs for each kind of mood. I do too, but the trick is to use it wisely.
I couldn’t be in nature the day I crawled in my blanket and decided to weep until I dozed off. But I could definitely listen to music. I got up, made a playlist, and heard it on loop for hours and instead of sleeping with a frown, I slept with a smile.
A combination of these five things has helped me pull myself up each time I had been down. Yet, only today after I thought about what motivates me did I figure them out. These five things have silently been there for me and motivated me at worst.
Last month marked one and a half year of my weekly writing. My motivators have helped me get till here and I am sure there’s a long way ahead. Hopefully, this post helped you too!
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Lovely…?
Thank You so much. ??