I few months back, there was a post on the Dragon Door Form asking Pavel how he would answered the question "what do I do when I can't get motivated?" I don't remember his answer word for word, but essentially he said how can you not be motivated? I didn't give it much thought at the time, but lately it has been wondering thru my mind.
Specifically, what can you do when someone is not motivated? To me, motivation comes from within. Everyone is driven by different goals or reasons. Lately, I've personally been working thru the Return of the Kettlebell Program in preparation for the upcoming Oklahoma Kettlebell Workshop in October, which is then followed by the CK-FMS course in May, and the RKC II course in June. My 2 motivating factors? 1) $$ - I've paid for these and refuse to fail. 2)Pride - I don't want to embarrass myself by not being prepared and able to handle anything that is thrown my way.
Everyday we are faced with choices - what to eat, what to wear, when to go to work, how hard to work when you are there, how to fill your free time. All of these seem like little, trivial choices but each one can either help you reach your goals or lead you to failure. Ultimately, your choices should lead you to be better than you were yesterday. If you do the same things you have always done, the results won't change. Expecting them to is stupidity.
If you want to get better at anything (work, marriage, relationships, health, etc.) it is going to take work. Being unsatisfied is the first sign that you need to make changes in the choices you make. If you are unhappy with any area of your life but continue to make the same choices everyday it's your fault. It's that simple, no matter how you try to justify it. If you want to eat healthier, but stop at McDonalds for breakfast because it is convenient it's your fault- Ronald McDonald didn't force you to pull into his restaurant. If you want to get in better shape but choose to miss your fitness class, bootcamp, or personal training time it's your fault - your bed didn't keep you from getting out of it.
Everyday you are faced with many choices. It is up to you how you handle each one. Ultimately the question you need to ask yourself is "will this make me better today than I was yesterday?" Michael Jordan won 2 Olympic Gold Medals, 1 NCAA title, and NBA 5 championships. S-I-X. After his first, he could have stopped improving but he wanted more - he CHOSE to keep getting better. Phil Jackson said, every season he returned better at some part of his game than the season before. If you chose to keep getting better everyday, you won't have to look for motivation or try to get motivated. You will be driven with each choice you make.
