So a few months ago I posted a video on how I studied for internal medicine shelf exam.
The most popular comment on that video asked for how to study when you don’t feel like
it.
This is actually a pretty common request.
I get requests like this all the time--like how to GET motivated and STAY motivated and
even questions like how to get motivated to exercise and eat healthy.
So today’s video is going to be all about motivation and how to stay motivated.
According to Google motivation is “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving
in a particular way” and “the general desire or willingness to do something”
It’s funny because sometimes there are days where we feel extra motivated and feel like
we can do anything.
Gym?
No problem.
Study for several hours?
Lets go!
But then there are days where we don’t feel like doing anything all.
So my first tip is to automate your motivation.
Let me explain!
Everyday I have to make small choices like what time should I wake up, what to wear,
what to work on, should I go for a workout, what to eat for lunch, how about dinner?
Should I do more practice questions?
Should I watch an episode of Fresh Prince?
What time should I go to sleep?
All these small decisions can get overwhelming and sometimes leads us to make bad choices.
There is actually a term for it.
It’s called decision fatigue.
Decision fatigue is refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual
after a long session of decision making.
A good example would be eating unhealthy and not working out after a long day at work .
One way to overcome decision fatigue is to limit the decisions you make in a day.
For example the late Steve Jobs famously wore the same outfit everyday.
Mark Zuckerberg does too and even President Obama!
In an interview with Vanify Fair he said:
“You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits, I’m trying to pare down decisions.
I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing.
Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
Wearing the same thing everyday is one way of automating and limiting the decisions you
make but there are other ways of automating your decisions like prepping your meals for
the week so you don’t have to decide on what to eat during lunch.
Or having a workout routine so you know exactly what you’re going to work out on that day.
But I think one of the best way to limit decisions you have to make is to use a calendar or a
schedule to make a routine.
So when it comes to making a routine, it should be personalized to the type of person you
are.
We all have different personalities and preferences, so if you’re a night owl, then maybe you
should schedule your work or study sessions at night.
Likewise, if you’re more productive in the morning then you should do the opposite and
schedule your work sessions during the day.
You should also consider where you feel the most productive.
For example, some people prefer studying alone in a room with little or no distraction while
others prefer studying in the library or coffee shops.
It goes back to the meaning of motivation which is “the general desire or willingness
to do something” so if you place yourself in a setting where it’s optimized to your
preferences then your willingness to do work will come by easier and you don’t have to
rely on the random burst of motivation.
Stephen King once said “Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just
get up and go to work.”
I think that’s true for most successful people.
One example is Serena Williams.
Before she was tennis super star, she had to practice a lot.
When she was a little kid, she described her life like this:
“...get up, 6 o’clock in the morning, go to the tennis court, before school.
After school, go to tennis.
But it was consistency.
I hate to put it [like this], but it’s like training an animal.
You can’t just be sometimey with it.”
So in the end the whole idea of a routine is to get you to a position where everything
is automated and you don’t have to think about your next move.
It’s has already been decided.
If you’re already at the library or the coffee shop, or at the tennis court, your
choice has been made--you’re there to get some work done.
When it comes to making a routine or a schedule building, I find that what works best for
me is having a combination of an electronic calendar and a physical to do list.
But even this can be personalized to your preferences, some people like using agendas
and bullet journals, while others like using some sort of electronic calendar.
I don’t think there is a universal “best” method of keeping track of your routine.
I would say the best one for you is the one you’re going to stick with long term.
So let’s say you have your routine set and it’s optimized to who you are, naturally,
the follow up question is how to stay motivated on achieving your goals?
One way to do it is to break down big goals into smaller, more-manageable tasks.
A pretty common resolution for new years resolutioners is to get healthy and lose weight.
Getting healthy and losing weight may be a daunting task at first, and may cause you
to lose motivation especially if you don’t see results at first.
Breaking it down to smaller, more achievable tasks can help you stay on track and not lose
motivation.
So if the big goal is to get healthy, we can break that down to smaller but easier, more
concrete tasks, like exercising 45 minutes a day for 3-4 days a week, or meal prepping
for the whole week.
For me, whenever I finish a smaller task, it gives me a sense of accomplishment, which
feels good and helps me stay motivated with the bigger picture.
So there you have it!
Those are my tips on self motivation and how to stay motivated.
Comment below on--HEY!
Comment below how you guys stay motivated.
And as a reminder I have some new stationery items at the store at thestrivetofit.com so
don’t forget to check it out!
Hope you guys enjoyed the video!
Don’t forget to like and subscribe and I will see you guys next time.
Bye!