Finding Daily Motivation

A woman called in to the Dr. Laura radio program last week with a question that many of us share. She was having trouble staying on track with her budget, her diet, and her exercise program. What it boiled down to was that she felt motivation in the beginning, but then her motivation waned, and she wanted to know what she could do to stay motivated.

How Dr. Laura answered was both interesting and inspiring.

She shared that everyone seems to think there is this inner reservoir of motivation that must be tapped into, and most people struggle with finding it. I have certainly found this to be true in my own life; I often wonder why the motivation some of my friends exhibit by running daily doesn't course through my veins as well. Like the caller, I've wondered how I can capture the source for this motivation.

Guess what? The inner well of motivation doesn't really exist; there is nothing wrong with you if you don't feel particularly motivated. Dr. Laura said that most people usually don't feel all that motivated to do what they have committed to do. It's a character issue, not a motivation issue.

That kind of puts it in perspective doesn't it?

So people who seem to be more motivated than most simply commit to following through with what they've said they will do, whether or not they feel like it on any given day. This applies to getting a handle on housekeeping, exercising, sticking to a budget, improving one's diet, and anything else you can think of. "Giving up" is less about not feel motivated that day and more about not keeping one's word and perhaps even being lazy--definitely undesirable character traits.

So the next time you don't feel all that motivated to pick up at the end of the day, or put laundry away, or make dinner, or go for a walk, or discipline spending, ask yourself instead what's in your character: do you keep your word? Are you a hard worker? Do you honor your commitments to your family? Then forget about motivation and prove your character by doing the jobs anyway.

I hope this encourages you, as it encouraged me!

(linked to Works for Me Wednesday)