How to Increase Motivation

There have been times in my life when I very much wanted to train. There have been times when I didn't. What's the difference? These moments of high motivation were usually around a competition of some sort. There was a definite timeline and goal.

The times I took my foot off the pedal or had no goals, guess what happened to my daily actions? They slowed down. "Just show up" is a nice start. It's for people that are trying to build a habit. But a better start is why you're doing it in the first place.

At one point, things are going to be hard. Let's use working out as an example. If there is a hard workout looming, you're going to ask yourself "why am I doing this?" If that reason is too weak or non-existent, you'll find it all too easy to give up and go sit on the couch instead.

You see individuals out there that seem to be crushing life on auto-pilot. We want this for ourselves, at least on some level. If you didn't, you probably wouldn't be reading this. The goal is the not give up on yourself.

How do you do it?

I'll tell you.

Nothing to do? More gets done.

As I was quitting some bad habits (one habit, video games, one game actually, DotA 2), I got bored. Really bored. Shows and movies weren't as fun to me, so I ended up quitting a few things at once. (I don't have a strict rule for myself, I just don't play every night like I used to). This boredom led me to enjoying the "boring" things i had fallen out of: reading, playing music, etc.

Let's go back in time. Even 50 years ago there were no video games. TV was limited. There was no internet. 500 years ago none of that existed. Did people die without it? No.

Some of the people I'd watch online (Alex Becker being one) stated that once he had taken a lot of stuff out of his life, magically he had this zest again for work. It wasn't just him. It also includes Ben Patrick and a slew of other people that had reduced or completely cut out entertainment.

Who cares? This is about lifting right? I believe a lot of people truly want more out of their lives, goals in the gym are included in that. That singular thought means there motivation there on some level. You need that motivation to get you into the gym when you don't feel like it.

What gets in the way? Everything else. Social media scrolling that interrupts your thought process and drains you mentally. TV or video games that eat up at least 30 minutes of your time, keeping you up late. Then when you're not doing those things you can't help but think about doing those things the next time.

Then I read the autobiography of one of my favorite "mentors," Arnold Schwarzenegger. Reading his life story, I realized how little he had growing up in Austria. That "lack" combined with a strong vision for America and bodybuilding is what led him to achieve greatness, because when you don't have lot, there's nothing else left for your brain to work on but work.

Luckily, we can mimic the same thing.

Increasing Motivation 101

Yes, you're motivated.

It may be behind a layer of nonsense, but it's in there. How can I make this bold claim? Simple. Ask anyone what they don't like about their lives and they can tell you. If they don't say it out loud, they know it deep down.

Sadly, it's all to easy to bottle up this feeling suppress it with things that help you forget about it. This is why people say things get worse when you do that. The time passes where you could be fixing it but you're not doing anything about it.

Time doesn't care. It's going to pass anyway. Make good use of it.

Let's make a path.

Step 1: Anti-Vision

• This has been coined by Dan Koe. However, I first heard about the idea from Tim Ferriss. To summarize: "if you're stuck as far as what goal to choose, think about what you hate in your life and write down the opposite."

• It's easier to start with a negative that you can see instead of a positive goal that you can't.

Step 2: Vision

• The anti-vision is done. Now just write down the opposite. What's a life you'd enjoy? Leave no detail behind. These aren't "goals," they're a "what does my day to day life look like that I would enjoy?"

Step 3: Goals

• Make goals based on your vision. The vision means the day to day life, but a goal has to happen along the way. Having a certain life means doing certain things.

Step 4: Detox

• This is the step where I don't think people focus on enough. If you have some form of entertainment in your life that's eating up way too much time (1 hour or more) something has to go. This is especially true if you keep saying "I don't have the time for it." It may hurt but what's more important?

• It's not just the time spent on the activity. You want more of your brain power going towards the goal you have. That way if you're thinking about it (like the "shower thoughts" that come up when you're…taking a shower) then you'll have more ideas. This is really amplified if you're reading books and other things that would help you with your goal.

• If you have a bunch of entertainment in the way, say too much DotA 2, even if you're working on a goal, your brain will also be thinking about the next match, seeing if your friends are online, researching how to get better at certain characters, etc. It's an all day thing. If anything you'd, be waiting all day to get to that thing. If you remove it, then your brain is free to brainstorm in the positive.

• I'll be merciful and give you some ideas on how to do this. You don't have to rip the band-aid off completely.

  • Entertainment as a post workout treat

    • Just using workouts here as an example. Put your entertainment after it so that it's a little reward.

  • Weekends only

    • Weekdays are for work. Weekends you can relax.

  • Once per week

    • More time to work, less time for fun.

  • A few days per month

    • At the end of each month, reward yourself with a few days of fun. This way you can really dig into what you're doing for a month straight.

  • Once a quarter.

    • More of the above

  • None at all

    • Take a deep breath. You'll be fine.

Step 5: The Actions

• Now your brain is free. There is no magic here. Think and brainstorm about the few critical tasks you need to do every day to get what you want. It's not complicated, but you may have to course correct as you go along. There's no such thing as making a 10 year plan that works flawlessly. Be rigid with your goal and flexible with the process.

It's not comfortable, but it works.

With all the extra brain points and the sight nudge of the lack of comfort, you're well on your way to getting what you want. Congrats!

"But I need my entertainment!" Do you? Were these modern day comforts even a thing 100 years ago? No. And your ancestors made it.

Please please please, for the sake of your future, think long term. If you have something in your life that you don't like and entertainment is getting in the way, take a deep breath and make the sacrifice. If anything, do a little 30-90 day "break" from it to play a trick on yourself. If you really want to after that time period, then you can come back to it.

The choice is yours.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions please feel free to reach out and I’ll do my best to answer them.

See you in the next one.