Staying Motivated in Tough

You’re stuck. You can’t be bothered. You want to give up. You get depressed. You get angry and throw a tantrum. You lose your motivation to go on and start looking for something else to do.

Does this sound like you in business? If so, you’re not alone. Join the club. Whether you’re the super rich or super poor, everyone is human and we all feel demotivated during times of pain and struggle.

Problems are a sign of life

The only ones who don’t have any problems are the ones who are buried six feet under. First of all, problems are a sign of life, no matter how bad they are. You’ll always have problems. I’ve never seen anyone in my entire life have no problems.

For example, a poor individual will complain about not having enough money, a person who has the money will complain about how XXX is suing them for all their money.

You’ll always have money problems and you’ll have to chose the the type of money problems you want.

Losing Your Motivation

There comes a time in your life when you’re working away at your business, you’ve invested hours of time and energy into it and it falls apart or you just can’t seem to break through till completion.

Let’s say that you go to a seminar and get really inspired and motivated, you buy the product and take it home. You listen to the first few recordings and nothing happens. The product is stored on the shelf and collects dust. Meanwhile, we go and find another product that looks nice.

Does this sound like you?

I’ve been there, many times.

So why is it that we tend to get really motivated at the start but then half way through, we lose that motivation and then stop everything?

I believe the law is this:

“Motivation is temporary”

There is NOTHING you can do to stay motivated forever. No one is motivated forever, not even Tony Robbins. I bet there are some days when Tony wakes up in the morning and says, I don’t have the energy today. Of course, 99% of the time he will be in 100% peak efficiency but there will be those dark days when he doesn’t want to take on the world and just needs a break. He’s only human too you know, or is he?

My Experience With Motivation

Over the past several years, I’ve definitely had my ups and downs in business, I’ve been motivated and been demotivated as well. However, one thing I’ve figured out is that you don’t need JUST motivation to get you through the rough times to completion.

I can tell you for a fact that throughout all the books I’ve written, products I’ve created, seminars I’ve taught and things I’ve done, there were times of intense feelings of self doubt and uncertainly. As I would go through that rough patch, I would make it through and then return back to my usual “entrepreneur mode”.

Here’s the pattern I’ve found:

1. You get intense motivation from an idea.
2. You begin work.
3. Half way through, you come across obstacles.
4. You lose motivation.
5. You go through a bit of self doubt.
6. You get distracted by other ideas.
7. You lose some time and focus on that idea.
8. Eventually, you get through it and work through completion.
9. When you are nearly 10% away from completion, you build up motivation and start getting excited again.

This is pretty much the pattern that I come across on a regular basis. Of course, sometimes it changes and I tend to work through, focus and finish things fast but most of the time, motivation is non existent.

You Don’t Need Motivation

I’ve discovered that you don’t really need motivation to finish things. What you really need is a habit. A habit of doing things every single day till completion.

I can tell you that I’ve been going to the gym for the past 1 and a half years for at least 5 times a week and my motivation levels are at 10%. However, the habit of me going every single day is become so strong that it’s so weird for me not to go to the gym.

That’s what you need to do, you need to build a success habit that is unbreakable so that you can stick through things until they are finished.

Speaking of the gym, I was once working out in Australia (I signed up to 1 week gym membership during my holiday) and on the wall, I noticed a very powerful phrase I’ll never forget.

It said…

“Motivation is what you need to get started, the habit is what you need to keep going”

That statement alone is so powerful beyond measure if you dare to use it.

I’ll repeat it again…

“Motivation is what you need to get started, the habit is what you need to keep going”

If you can fully understand the power of a habit, then you can really achieve so many things you’e always dreamed about.

Typically, if you want to create a success out of anything, you’re going to need time for it to build up. Time is what it takes to create something special.

Taking Action Every Day

The habit of taking action every single day will propel you to great heights and the only way to take action every single day without motivation is your friend “Mr and Mrs Habit”

For example, you can never lose 25 kilos over night training really hard at the gym all day, it won’t work. However, based on my experience, you need to train nearly every day for at least 45 minutes and maintain a healthy diet in order to lose your excess weight.

I one weighed 90 kilos at the start of 2011. By the end of 2011, I weighed 68 kilos and 2 abs shy of a six pack.

I can tell you with utmost certainty that motivation is nothing compared to a habit. The habit is what got me to lose that weight. The habit is what got me to go to the gym every single day. I know that if I broke my habit, I’ll need to work hard at forming that habit again.

Therefore the moral of the story is this.

If you ever want to achieve something, you’re going to need to take action every single day towards that goal. By taking action every single day, you form a habit. By forming a habit, you shape your destiny.

Good journey.

Khoa Bui

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About the Author Khoa Bui is a best selling author, international speaker, corporate trainer and entrepreneur. He has been featured on Entrepreneur Magazine, Channel 31, Global News Network and more. He has a passion for writing, traveling the world and building online businesses. Find out more about Khoa here.