The Simple Secret To Motivation That Lasts

Make it harder to give up when the going gets tough.

You don’t really need an extraordinarily detailed plan of every twist and turn in the road before you take the first step. You don’t need to wait till all your duck are lined in a row. You don’t have to wait till you have more money, more fame or more encouragement. You don’t even have to wait until you get the “green light” — whatever that means for you

After you have defined your goal, your intended destination, your target, your aim , only one thing needs to follow.

Not that you can’t set off without it, not that you can’t make any progress without it. But if your goal will take some time to reach — maybe weeks, or months or even years — you can be sure your enthusiasm will wax and wane.

Some days you will feel like it, some days you won’t. Some days you’ll feel on cloud nine, you’ll feel like you can achieve anything, your goal feels like only a matter of time before its reached.

Other days, you’ll struggle to drag yourself out of bed, your goal feels blurry, feels more distant than ever. You don’t see how you can take the next step. All you feel like doing is quit.

When those days arrive, where motivation is on the floor, it is this one thing that has the power to pull you through:

Your “Whys”

After your goal is set and your target locked in, your whys is what should follow.

Why do you want to start that business? Get a piece of paper, sit quietly by yourself for 20–25 minutes and write down every single reason you can think of.

You might think “”Yeah, because I want to make money”. But when you go deeper you’ll find there are deeper reasons. Yes, those. Maybe you look forward to a day when you can quit your soul-sucking job? Maybe the freedom to choose your own schedule? Maybe the excitement of being in control of your time? You desire to be your own boss? To spend more time doing what you want to do with who you want to do it? Maybe the longing to use more of your creativity your channel of impact on the world?

Don’t be tempted to stop just yet. Keep going until you write down every single one, until you get to those whys that touch your emotions, You can feel it. It might even make you shed a tear or two. That’s OK. The deeper the better.

Write it neatly and place it somewhere very accessible: your goal and a comprehensive list of your whys.

Paste it on your refrigerator. Paste it in your bathroom, on the wall of your bedroom. Use it as your wallpaper or screensaver. Put it anywhere and everywhere where you can be reminded frequently.

What you have just done is one of the most powerful thing you can do to bring your goal to life.

Its just that many times the truth is too hard to admit. When we say “I don’t feel like it” its totally our fault. You’re the one that’s making yourself not feel like it. The solution to get yourself to feel like it again is there on your refrigerator, on the bedroom wall etc. A comprehensive, detailed list of your whys.

When the going gets tough, being clear on your why, visiting and revisiting it will help you keep going more than anything else you can ever do.

All the planning and strategizing in the world won’t help you — unless you’re really clear about the whys behind your goal. When you’re ready to give up, connecting and reconnecting with your why, why you started in the first place will help you keep going. It is the path to sustained motivation.

Zach Altmyer summed it up:

“Those who give up easily don’t have a strong enough why. Make it bigger than you. Succeed for: Your kids, your parents, your significant other, those who look up to you. Whenever you think about giving up. Remember you are not doing it for you. You’re doing it for them.”

The truth is a goal that is not back up with strong enough why will not be able to command your persistence when the going gets tough.

So what’s are your whys? Write them down. Visit them. Keep them close. They have more power than you realize.