Motivation
Today, in invite you to focus on two strategies for fading motivation
By this point in the series of blog posts, you have thought about your vision and know the characteristics you’re trying to build. You have an implementation intention for inserting this small (less than 2-minute version) habit into your daily routine. You may have also made a few environmental design changes that help nudge things along.
The expectation is that you have performed your habit at least 10-15 times by this point if you have been reading the weekly blog posts.
Have you noticed that you started strong, but our initial excitement has waned, and you have performed your habit more like 4 times than 5-10; or you have fallen off course, struggling to complete your habit/goals and action steps. Maybe you are more like completing the habit only 4 or 5 times and getting discouraged.
Don’t worry! We all can lose motivation and get off track.
“In many areas of life, we assume that if we put in a little bit of effort, we’ll get a little bit of results. So, naturally, when we’re trying our best and putting in a lot of effort, we think we should get a lot of results. But habits don’t really work this way. Rather than having some linear relationship with achievement, habits tend to have more of a compound growth curve. The greatest returns are delayed. This gap between what we expect and what we experience is what I refer to as the “plateau of latent potential.” – James Clear
This is taken from James Clear’s book , Atomic Habits. For more information on habits, it’s a great read!
This plateau plays a role in any journey of improvement. You’re putting in work each day, but you feel stuck in this valley of death. You’re accumulating potential (reps) but it hasn’t been released yet/you do not see big changes or even small ones. You may feel like it’s all effort, and no reward. This can be a frustrating experience, and you need something to help you stick with your habit while you’re waiting for the long-term rewards to accumulate.
Look at it like this…an ice cube sits there and doesn’t seem to do anything if the temperature is 12 degrees. It starts to warm up, 15, then 17, then 20…still looks the same. Then it’s 23 degrees, 25, 27, 30…still nothing! Then 32 degrees, 34 degrees and hey, wait, I see something happening…it is melting! Each degree after 32 the ice cube is melting; it seems like now it’s just automatically melting! It’s the same amount of change, 1 degree a day, but the reward seems to be exponentially bigger!
Can you relate? When you are doing the action steps, putting in the reps and time: you are walking, you are eating healthily, you are getting to bed using good sleep hygiene so you can get 8 hours of sleep. At first, there seems to be no change, week 2 no change, week 3, come on! You are getting frustrated! Then, after a month you haven’t lost 10 pounds, you still must think about cutting up the veggies (even though you buy them and have them handy) and you haven’t seen the progress of this new habit.
It's time to add in 2 strategies James Clear recommends assisting you continuing the reps when motivation begins to fade.
The first strategy is called “temptation bundling.”
Temptation bundling works by linking an action you want to do with an action you need to do. You’re more likely to find your behavior attractive if you get to do one of your favorite things at the same time. Maybe you want to read something, but need to spend your time cutting and bagging your veggies for meal prep. Solution: listen to the book while prepping.
Of course, some people find it hard to implement strategies like this. When you know you can read a book or devotional anytime without meal prepping, it becomes easy to skip the “need to do” part and jump straight to the “want to do” portion. Thankfully, you can also use temptation bundling to make the process itself more enjoyable rather than only allowing yourself to enjoy something at certain times.
In other words, even if you don’t really want to cut up the veggies and bag them, you’ll become conditioned to do it if it means you get to do something you really want to do along the way.
To utilize Temptation Bundling for yourself, you can use this formula:
“I will only [HABIT I WANT TO DO] when I [HABIT I NEED TO DO].”
Let’s look at some examples.
I will only listen to my book when I am chopping veggies and bagging them.
I will only take pictures of nature when I am taking a walk or hike.
I will only visit and have coffee at my favorite shop when I’m paying bills online and balancing the budget.
The second strategy to boost your motivation is referred to as a “commitment device.” A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in your actions in the future.
For example, most gyms require a credit or debit card on file, this creates a commitment device: the act of signing up for a certain period locking you
into a future action of going to the gym because you pay for it automatically. Each time you drive by you will feel that cash is leaving your pocket.
There are many ways to create a commitment device in your own life.
Delete distracting apps off your phone if you are spending your meal prep or exercise time on your phone. Once you complete the task, you can view it on your computer.
When you go to the gym or workout, always schedule your next appointment as you refresh with some water, now it’s on your calendar when you are feeling good from the workout.
Leave your phone at home when you’re going to catch up with a friend or loved one so it can’t distract you. Your social well-being will fill up and you’ll spend quality time with your friend. You’ll build good relationships and have an accountability person for support.
Host a monthly game night with friends so you’re forced to tidy up your home each month. You’ll feel less scattered with a clean house and can then devote time to your new habit.
A well-structured commitment device requires you to put in more work to get out of the good habit than to get started on it.
Temptation bundling and commitment devices are two helpful strategies that may enable you to get over the hump and build a habit that lasts.
Chew on these thoughts: The image of an ice cube melting and how it can help you put in the reps even when you don’t see the results immediately, temptation bundling and adding in well-structed commitment devices to help you do what you want to do and what you need to do to realize your vision.
