Why You Should Give Up the Need for External Motivation (and How to Do It)
“Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. “I write only when inspiration strikes,” he replied. “Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.” That’s a pro.”
—Steven Pressfield, The War Of Art
One of the major reasons for procrastination for many people is their over-reliance on motivation, and waiting for the right moment to act.
If you wait to feel motivated before beginning any task, there’s very little chance you’ll ever get it done.
Think about all the great ideas you’ve ever had — for writing, business, creative endeavors, and more — that never got realized because you were waiting for the perfect moment to act on them.
The Two Sources of Motivation
The truth is that motivation can either come from external sources or from within.
External motivation is fickle. It is rare, unpredictable, and hard to come by. It’s not something you have direct control over.
Inner motivation, on the other hand, can be created and controlled at will. So, it’s important to be able to get the motivation you need from within, and give up the need for external motivation.
Most people are needy for external motivation, for someone to tell them to take action. There are so many people just waiting for a magical idea to pop into their mind which will spring them into action. But they’ll keep waiting unless they decide to take action themselves, because there is no “perfect moment.”
For a minute, try to remember all the people who are getting the results that you want, that are doing the things you’d like to do.
Now, here’s a fact: none of them are waiting for the perfect moment. They don’t have some kind of invisible force pushing them forward. They’re just following a routine, and doing the things that they need to do to reach their goals. Even if they don’t feel like doing those tasks sometimes. That’s just how it works.
Get Motivated Through Your Actions
In the process of achieving anything worthwhile, there will always be moments when you won’t feel like taking action anymore. Everybody knows that feeling. In times like those, your ability to move forward without motivation will determine if you win or give up.
Often, motivation arises after you start, after you develop momentum and get in the flow. All of a sudden, you regret not starting earlier. You feel good; you’re motivated; you’re moving forward.
Motivation and action are co-arising phenomena. Contrary to popular belief, the former doesn’t necessarily precede the latter. As William James said: “Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.”
Action Strategy
So, how exactly do you apply this tip to your daily life as a habit? It can be done in many ways. The most effective way is using affirmations.
"I am an action taker.”
“I am a productivity expert.”
“I always get my to-do list done.”
“I never put off work that I planned to do today.”
“I always act now.”
Just repeat an affirmation like this when you feel like giving up. You can do it out loud or in your mind, or you can even type it on a device or write it on paper.
Another way is to ask yourself your Why. Dial back into the goal, the vision, the destination: the very reason you decided action was required in the first place.
When this forms into a strong habit in your mind, everything will change. Whenever you feel like giving up, you won’t procrastinate or distract yourself. Instead, you’ll motivate yourself to keep going and complete your task.
Your decision-making will become much sharper as well. Once you make the decision to do something, you won’t go back and overthink and reevaluate again and again.
So, stop waiting around. Your time is right now. Get moving, and motivation will follow up with you.
This was an edited excerpt from my book Plus Habits. If you enjoyed it, you can get a full copy here.
