It’s happened to you before.
In the comfort of your home at night, you’ve laid out your plans to write your book or start your freelance writing business.
Then the sun comes up, and all that certainty and motivation start to waver.
You put your plan into action for a day or two and decide you’re miserable.
You think that you’d rather stick with your mediocre life than pursue all of those goals.
What happened?
Motivation is challenging to maintain after the initial excitement wears off.
Here’s why:
1. Planning is fun.
You’re lying on the couch on a lazy evening, dreaming about the book signings you do or all the zeros you’ll be adding to your bank account thanks to your freelance writing business.
The path is as clear as the nose on your face.
How can you not be motivated?
● Everything is easy in your head.
It’s not much fun calling or emailing perspective clients or writing a difficult chapter in your novel..
Anyone can daydream and sketch out a plan.
The hard part is doing the actual work.
2. Distractions.
Since executing your plan is less than glorious each day, distractions become quite appealing.
Netflix, the Internet, and playing Crossy Road on your cell phone are bit more exciting.
Distractions can kill dreams if you let them (Note: refer back to my previous article about evaluating distractions to see which ones you can turn into opportunities).
3. Too focused on results rather than processes.
Results come slowly.
This is especially true at the beginning.
It’s not too exciting when you write only a few paragraphs in a week or get rejected by many perspective clients.
If results are the only thing that receive your attention, you’ll have a hard time staying the course.
● Work for a victory each day.
You can’t make a lot of progress each day, but you can adhere to your plan.
Feel good that you followed your plan and your processes today.
Get addicted to that positive feeling.
The results are sure to come along.
4. Too concerned with what others think.
It’s important to be motivated internally.
If you only want to write a book or make money to impress others, your motivation won’t last.
● Reach inside and find a personal reason for chasing your goal.
Doing anything to impress others results in a hollow victory, if you achieve a victory at all.
But do it for yourself, and you’ll feel proud and happy.
5. Too focused on the short-term.
Instead of dreading how you have to spend your day, remind yourself of the reward at the end.
Remind yourself of how great you’ll feel when you’re successful.
Visualize your success each morning and evening.
6. You are naturally driven to seek comfort.
Our minds and bodies don’t like discomfort.
We’re programmed to be attracted to those things we find comfortable, whether it’s a nice, warm couch, potato chips, or hanging out with friends instead of working through a chapter of our novel.
● Your mind is fighting you on some level when you spend your time doing something unenjoyable.
To counteract this, find something you like about your new routine and focus on that.
What are your plans for the future?
Are you finally going to make them happen?
Maintaining your motivation is important.
Learn to celebrate the daily victories regarding your behavior.
Internal motivation will always beat external motivation over longer periods of time.
That initial burst of excitement fades quickly but stay the course and you’ll reach your writing and career goals!
For more writing tips, be sure to visit writebythesea.com and get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge. Once you're a subscriber, you'll also have access to a Private Resource Library for Writers.
Suzanne Lieurance is the author of over 40 published books, a freelance writer, and a law off attraction coach for writers.
6 comments:
Suzanne,
What a great topic--motivation and plodding forward to complete the action. I've faced this situation over and over. Being consistent and persistent is hard but it's the only way to keep moving in my view. I appreciate this encouraging article. Thank you,
Terry
author of Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success (Revised Edition) [Follow the Link for a FREE copy]
Suzanne, I agree with Terry. This is an important topic. Motivation has a short fuse, only often it doesn't explode into action, it fizzles into doubts.
Thanks, Terry. I think it's common for most writers to get really excited BEOFRE they start writing their book but then lose interest (a.k.a. motivation) after they take some initial action. Isn't it funny that we tend to think "we're the only one" this happens to? Writers are more alike than they think.
Karen, yeah, and motivation is so closely tied to self-doubt. When we learn to stop doubting ourselves, we suddenly become more motivated. Go figure.
I expect this is why many writers never publish; they lose something vital along the way for the very reasons you have outlined here. It is not enough to be a good writer or have creative ideas, you have to have the fortitude to stick with it and see it through.
Great advice, Suzanne. It takes determination to see a book project from start to finish. For writers who accomplish that the rewards make the time spent worth it.
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