We’re five weeks into the new year and for many of us our aspirations for 2020 have already fallen by the wayside. Life has a way of distracting us from what is most important and if we’re not careful, before we know it, time has slipped away. There is a verse in a Pink Floyd song that resonates with me every time I hear it. “And then one day you find, ten years have gone behind you. No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun.” Life is short and we only have one chance to live the life we want. The time to act is now but how do we actually get ourselves to take action? How do we “get motivated”?
Here’s the secret about motivation…motivation comes after we start. Yes, the best way to get motivated is to take action. Taking action is not always easy. We put so much pressure on ourselves to do it all and to do it perfectly. We become too focused on the outcome. Let’s forget about the outcome and focus instead on the process. Focusing on the process, especially on just the first step can significantly increase our likelihood of success. Every habit that we have or that we want to have starts with a trigger, one small action that is like the first domino which sets the chain in motion. Once we do that first action, the rest of the steps fall into place with minimal effort. All we have to concern ourselves with then is taking that first step.