No sacrifices? No success
RAEGAN HEDLEY, LIFESTYLE COLUMNIST
I know it’s hard for me to stay motivated during the winter semester. You know, the time after the holidays and before summer.
I always expect I’ll be all revved up with resolutions in January and refreshed and ready to work after the holiday break, but it never comes true. Then I realized I was relying on the same feeling I had when I wrote my resolutions down in my journal to keep me moving forward.
Only eight per cent of people achieve their New Year’s goals, according to Forbes.
The problem lies in seeing resolutions as motivational tools. We set them when we’re at our peak comfort level. The holidays make us feel warm and cozy, and we do a lot of wishful thinking.
I think there’s one key consideration often missing when we make these resolutions: How much can I afford to sacrifice — or how much am I willing to sacrifice — to make this goal a reality?
Motivation feels nice. Whenever I need some I watch the “How Bad Do You Want It?” speech by Eric Thomas on YouTube – but motivation isn’t the same feeling as sacrifice.
Let’s be honest. Motivation isn’t what keeps you going on your seventh straight hour of studying or working.
Sacrifice doesn’t come from a place of comfort, and it certainly doesn’t feel warm and fuzzy. It feels like wiping the crust out of your eyes when your alarm goes off at 5 a.m. It feels like foregoing social time to sit at home and stare at your laptop. It feels like crying in a bathroom stall at school because you don’t want to do it anymore.
So stop relying on motivation.
Instead, give things up in order to get one step closer to achieving your goal. Acknowledge these sacrifices. Instead of focusing on how they suck, understand why you need these moments.
For example, being so sore you can barely climb the stairs is one of the joys of going back to the gym. While it might be painful, it can also be a source of pride that keeps you going to the gym (and possibly make you consider adding some stretching to your workout).
I promise these feelings will fuel you and keep you going way longer than the motivation you’d get from watching a YouTube video or seeing the clock strike midnight on Jan. 1.
Raegan Hedley is a sassy millennial who aspires to someday
become a kick-ass business professional.
In the meantime, she writes on her blog at raegjules.com and
tweets way too much (@raegjules).
Edited Feb. 6 10:03pm – uploading error of an incomplete sentence
