The motivation fairy? From the Open Clip Art Library; accessed through Wikimedia Commons.
They are the five words that I hear the most in my job as a health psychologist at a medical center: “I want to stop smoking/ lose weight/ eat better/ exercise more/ take my medications consistently/ do what my doctor asked me to do, but I just can’t get motivated!”
We use the same five-word excuse in our financial lives, as well. “I want to save more/ spend less/ invest more/ follow a budget/ learn more about personal finance/ follow my financial advisor’s advice, but I just can’t get motivated.”
Dr. Russ Harris, in his 2011 book The confidence gap: A guide to overcoming fear and self-doubt, tackles the motivation issue head on. First, he reminds us that it is simply not possible to have “no motivation” for a pursuit. It is more accurate to say that we have motivation for several different behaviors, and they all compete—so sometimes the behavior we should pursue does not win out, because we desire something else more.
In his words: “…in my experience, when someone says, ‘I don’t have the motivation,’ what they really mean is, ‘ I have a desire to do it, and it is important to me—but I’m not willing to take action unless I feel good, happy, positive, inspired, energized, confident, or in the mood.’”
He goes on to make an important distinction between motivation and commitment. If we equate motivation with a feeling, and we wait for that feeling of being “fired up” to come along, we might be waiting a long time. However, if we shift our focus from motivation to commitment, there is always some kind of values-driven action we can take to change our behavior in a positive direction. We don’t have to wait for inspiration or a magical feeling to arrive.
Dr. Harris sums it up with an important rule: “Committed action comes first; feeling motivated comes later.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Do you ever find yourself waiting for some elusive feeling called “motivation” to descend upon you and make you act upon your financial goals? How well does that work? Is there a better way?
10 Responses to “I Just Can’t Get Motivated”
Many Christians teach that faith, then action come first. Feelings then line up behind those two. It’s worked for me consistently (although it sure helps when they all line up together).
@Mary–that’s a great point. It’s like the idea that you act “as if” first, and then the feelings come in to support your actions.
I think the motivation fairy is a little like the tooth fairy, right? She arrives at night and touches you on the head with her wand, and you wake up MOTIVATED! Thanks for the interesting post.
What a good blog topic. I have to agree, in this day and age, with everything competing for our attention, motivation becomes so diluted and is often absent. So focusing on commitment is really a good thought–something I will start doing now.
I guess determination is the key word here. If you are detrmined to do something, you will always move on!
I think you might be more motivated if you get a good night of sleep. You actually feel like doing something. That generally does it for me. That, and a cup of coffee in the morning.
It seems like the message that they give writers: that you don’t wait for inspiration and then write. Because you would be waiting forever. Instead, you sit down and start writing, and then inspiration follows.
Thanks, I needed this!
PS Please email me. I tried to email you using your blog email, but it doesn’t work for me. I want to give you a favorite link of mine. Thanks!
Here is the link: http://www.yakezie.com and is a free bloggers’ group you might like. I belong to it and have found it very helpful.
Getting in touch with values becomes an increasingly important aspect of motivation. Being committed to values drives the bus.
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