Most of us get our butt off the couch and commit to action once we feel a certain level of motivation.

This motivation usually comes from doing something that evokes some sort of emotional inspiration inside of us. We therefore assume that in order to commit to action we need to go through a chain reaction…

Emotional inspiration –> Motivation –> Desired action 

Unfortunatley though, we don’t always feel this emotional inspiration and so we never really get motivated to do something. After all, we therefore assume we’re just screwed if we don’t get motivated or have a major emeotional life-event happen, that makes us take action like a robot.

This is literally what my mum used to tell me back in high school. Instead of sitting at my desk and solving algebra problems, I was loafing on my couch and watched Tom and Jerry. At one point she was like ‘if you don’t get motivated to do XYZ, you’re gonna have a tough time next year son!’

…and there I was. Self-loathing and condemning myself about being an unmotivated piece of shit.

Many of us face this problem. We deperately want to do something, but then fall into modes of procrastination and binge watch netflix only to find our deadlines and other pressures to be our only source of motivation (uni students know what I’m talking about). 😉

I recently read one of Mark Manson’s powerful quotes in one of his books. It said;

‘Action isnt just the effect of motivation. Its also the cause of it.’

What Mark really means by this quote, is this;

Action –> Inspiration –> Motivation

How often did you find yourself doing random things at home, or at work, and all of the sudden have an epiphany moment where you go ‘whoa!’ 

I get it all the time! It’s almost magical!

And once you get started on something, after being motivated enough, you also begin to notice that your actions trigger further inspiration and that this inspiration brings about further motivation which brings about further action and so on…

So look, the lesson here is that if you’re stuck in the middle of an existential shitstorm right now, feel like you’re chasing after false dream, or if everything just feels a little meaningless right now, just DO SOMETHING. Anything. It could be anything of the simplest thing. When starting to actually do something, you’ll not only discover new values for yourself, but also overcome that emotional hurdle on getting started on something bigger.

Hope I could help,

Goodnight,

Max