You’re not alone
I know many people struggle with getting motivated to get things done. This may be putting off putting away the load of laundry, you know that one that has been sitting in the dryer for like….4 fuckin days and by the time you get around to it, it is time to do laundry all over again. Hate that.
For others this may be just getting up the motivation to work on a side project that you keep meaning to start, but just can’t seem to muster up the energy at the end of your day to do it. Talk about a splitting headache after 10-12 hrs of screen time.
Or hell maybe that’s even fighting your internal demons not to order take for the 4th time this week ... .when it's only Tuesday, because cooking sounds awful…. Fuck me right?
Whatever your motivation struggle is, you are not alone, everyone goes through this.
So I figured I would share 5 lessons that helped me to break through motivation waves and finally launch emailemu.com. I only learned these through trial, error, failure, and reading.
The Lessons
Talk About Your Projects With Others
I noticed for me a lot of the lack of motivation came from me keeping what I was working on to myself. I always felt like it wasn’t ready to share with people or I would share it once and then never again. People would then ask me “how is the project coming” and I didn’t have a good answer. I didn’t talk with who I thought would want the product enough.What I found was that constantly talking with people, helps your brain by keeping your project top of mind, thus increasing the chances that you will stay consistent.
Now I constantly share with people what I’m working on. I share it with LinkedIn connections, friends, family, target users, my dog, and my grandma…great listener though ... .maybe it’s because she doesn’t understand anything.
Product Market Fit Is Energizing
Discovering a product-market fit is exhilarating. When you find something people are looking for it is awesome. Every time I share emailemu.com with people they get excited. I show them new ideas, northstar concepts, and features. Hearing that “I am onto something” is like pouring gas on the fire. Moral of the story find your gasoline, not your wet blanket.
Small Victories Boost Motivation
Even small achievements, like a new subscriber or a mention on LinkedIn, boost my motivation. These moments confirm I’m heading in the right direction. Which really drives home the point of just getting the project live. More on that in another blog.
Transform Your Motivation Into A Habit
If you are a person who get really motivated quickly and then loses just as fast then we are similar. I struggle with this myself. I found that getting those waves of motivation to turn into a small consistent effort is what makes s difference. Start SMALL then work up to bigger and bigger chunks.
I recently read “the ONE thing, which controversial opinion, I hated. That shit could have been a single chapter. If I have to read the phrase the ONE thing ONE more time I’m going to blow my brains out…..BUT the “ONE thing” that stood out (See what I did there) was basically in order to get something accomplished we need discipline, but in reality we need just enough discipline to form a habit and then after that habit is formed it take significantly less discipline. In fact that’s because that action is now second nature.
Consistency builds momentum and momentum breeds change
Whether it’s just a few minutes or several hours, doing something every day counts. It’s about building momentum, both mentally and physically. It’s similar to going to the gym: some days might be underwhelming, but then there are those incredible sessions that wouldn’t happen if you didn’t show up. When you start showing up you start to feed off those good days and then you start to notice change.
I hope this resonates with or helps someone reading it and if not, that’s okay too, because it’s helping me improve my writing.
P.S. If you’re interested in email marketing strategies, check out emailemu.com. It’s free, and I’d really appreciate your feedback and support!