Recovering When Motivation Goes Away
“What Are The Obstacles To Doing The Real Thing?” by Scott H. Young
https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2020/07/27/real-thing-obstacles/
I’m Busy, Why Do I Care? All of us have ambitions, and all of those come with a list of things that need to be done to see them through. But there are always temptations to do things which don’t help advance our cause. We unpack advice on dealing with the real source of our issues.
Main Section: 512 words (4-5 minute read)
It’s well known that most New Years’ Resolutions don’t make it to February 1st. Unfortunately, this is also true for our more mundane goals throughout the rest of the year.
If only it was simple to do what we need to do. When we make a plan or commit to making an ambition reality, we inevitably have at least a rough idea of what’s needed and how to go about doing it.
Our goal is only as far from us as matching up the ends, ways and means to accomplish it.
Until it isn’t...
Progress sometimes just slowly peters out, sometimes to nothing and sometimes getting lost in a sea of motion that never amounts of real progress.
Scott H. Young has a very worthwhile pair of posts this problem. He looks at the distinction between doing work that actually advances our ambitions (what he calls “real work”) and giving in to distractions in one post. Then he looks at where the crux of our problems with executing actually lie: within or outside ourselves.
I particularly liked the second post. It reminded me of one of my favorite writers: The War of Art’s author Steven Pressfield. Like Pressfield, Young realizes that the internal blockages are the most pressing:
Inner obstacles are the dangerous ones. These occur not when real practice is impossible, but when you avoid doing it. Unlike barriers in the outside world, they often result not in imperfect practice, but no work at all.
I can relate to this. Some of my least impressive performances have come not from trying and failing, but talking myself into not jumping on things that were probably in my power to do.
Young offers three steps to help those struggling to reorient themselves towards achievement:
Recognize when you’ve fallen from the path
Reduce friction impeding your work on the “real thing” or “real work”
Call out distractions masquerading as real work
These are great steps, and important to keep in mind -- especially with complex or long-term projects that have many stages and are most susceptible to getting lost in the process.
Ben Hunt-Davis’ classic rowing-inspired question “Will it make the boat go faster?” is another way of collapsing the factors down into a manageable but powerful question.
What we’re really asking here is “What am I doing right now and why?” This is a great starting point when we feel lost. We have to answer it honestly, though.
During the Covidcation, I’ve found that some of my deadlines have slipped despite my being busy, and the answer has been that I’ve substituted busy work for doing the “real work” that would advance my long-term ambitions.
Why? Because they were soothing or distracting on days when I felt hemmed in or was grappling with the future.
That’s natural and understandable, so it’s not cause for a condemnation. No one is a worse human being for feeling that way.
We do need, though, to be careful that it doesn’t become the default setting or norm.
So ask away, and make those ambitions and dreams reality.