How To Motivate Yourself To Do Anything

In this article I’ll teach you the ancient secret for getting motivated to do anything and everything you want in life..

Ready, here it is…YOU CAN’T!

Once again I’ve reeled you in with a compelling headline only to dash your hopes upon the jagged rocks of reality.

But, before you unsubscribe (it’s tempting I know), let’s get real for a moment.

You didn’t click on this article because you lack motivation. You’re reading it because there are things you want to do that you just aren’t doing or not doing well enough to satisfy your neurotic tendencies.

This article is less about finding motivation and more about how to get shit done even when you don’t want to!

Motivation is a feeling, an emotion, and as we’ve all experienced, they come and go.

A good cup of coffee, a great dookie, or a sad movie can all push us in and out of different emotions.

Basing our efforts purely on how we feel can completely undermine our success.

Waiting to do something until you feel motivated is the ultimate excuse and ensures you’ll probably give up as soon as it gets too hard or boring because you’ll always be waiting for that motivational breeze to fill your sails.

Motivation is a poor predictor of success just as frustration is a poor predictor of failure.

Have you ever done something hard even though you felt frustrated while you did it? I’d go out on a limb and assume that every worthwhile thing you’ve ever accomplished in life came with heaps of frustration.

So, if you were able to accomplish big things even though you felt frustrated, what makes you believe that you need to feel motivated in order to do something or continue doing it?

Take Motivation Out Of The Equation

The key to doing the stuff you really don’t feel like doing is to take motivation out of the equation.

If you’ve done a cost/risk-benefit analysis and decided not to do something because it doesn’t make good practical or financial sense, that’s one thing.

But, if you know there’s something you want or need to do and you’re having problems starting or being consistent, don’t wait until you feel like doing it.

Do it anyway. In fact, do the thing especially because you don’t feel like doing it.

Believe it or not, dopamine, the “motivation” hormone actually increases when you do something you don’t feel like doing!

You might not feel that boost of dopamine right away, but the maximum amount of dopamine you can secrete and process (aka dopamine threshold) will increase. This will make it easier (and more enjoyable) the next time you do it..

This is how it works…

By doing something you don’t want to do, you're sending signals to your brain saying “pay attention to this.” Your brain will then tag that action as important and will release more dopamine in anticipation of doing it in the future!

Then the next time your brain anticipates you doing the behavior again, you’ll get a little neurochemical boost to help you along, and it will feel a little easier.

So, if we’re going to take motivation out of the equation, there must be some ways to get the ball rolling without having to wait for the motivation choo choo train.

When Motivation Falls Short

Here are a few tips to help you do the thing even when you really don’t want to.

1. Create An Alter-Ego

That’s right, create a sub-mind or sub-persona you can tag into the ring when you feeling like weaseling out.

My alter ego is more like my rebellious, adolescent self. It’s the self that would easily be goaded or challenged into doing something stupid just because someone didn’t think I could do it…or because a girl was involved…usually the latter.

Here’s an example of what it sounds like in my head:

Me - “I’m feeling pretty tired…it’s been a long day…I’ll train my legs tomorrow.”

Other Me 1 - “you said last week you could flat jump 3 meters by the end of the month…I bet you can’t!”

Other Me 2 - “screw that and screw you…I’m doing it!”

When I use my alter-ego I’m creating a pattern disrupt that gives me a small window in my apathy to escape through.

Maybe I still don’t want to do it, but now there’s another I…and he does!

For some people their alter-ego is like a drill instructor or a coach.

For David Goggins, the Navy SEAL and ultramarathon runner, his alter-ego is Goggins, a dark angel whose only mission is to destroy his inner bitch.

What’s your alter-ego like?

Can you sub him in when you’re procrastinating or making excuses?

2. Train Your Inner Dog

I’m sure you’ve heard or read about Pavlov’s dog in your psychology classes at school. Pavlov’s observations about behavioral reinforcement have dominated much of behavioral and management psychology for the past 100 years.

While I feel some of his ideas are outdated, I do believe it’s possible to train ourselves to do something automatically in response to specific stimuli called triggers.

Trigger 1 - Tiny Habits: In his book Tiny Habits, the behavioral psychologist BJ Fogg suggests using very small triggers to help us adopt a healthy behavior or to do something we’re avoiding.

An example of this is putting your sneakers right next to your front door on the days you intend to work out.

Here’s the key: The intended trigger isn’t to get you to the gym, but to jus get you to the next step…put your shoes on.

What you do from there is up to you.

I’ve found that 99% of the time when I put my sneakers on, I’ll then grab my keys, and then get into the car, etc. In 10 minutes I’m at the gym and ready to go!

Even if I still don’t feel like training when I get to the gym, the likelihood that I’ll turn around and drive back home is ZERO…so I might as well train. And, if I’m going to train, I might as well work toward my goal.

See how you can go from a Tiny Habit to a PR with this simple action trigger? Sounds hokey but it actually works!

What’s a Tiny Habit you can use to move forward on a project or achieve a goal?

Trigger 2 - Mental Subroutines: Another way to use triggers is to create a mental subroutine in your mind that basically says “when I do x then y will always happen.”

Subroutines automate your decision making process and take all the responsibility for making important decisions out of your slimy little hands.

Here’s an example…

I really hate being cold! But, I really do love the physical and mental health benefits of doing ice baths 3-4 times per week.

The hardest part for me is just getting in the tub. So, once my alter-ego has goaded me into filling the bath with cold water and ice, I use my Mental Subroutine trigger to get me into the bath.

Here’s the subroutine trigger I use:

1. I’ll have my phone timer preset to 3 minutes and 10 seconds.

2. When I press the start button (the trigger) I just step into the tub and sink in up to my chin.

Once the start button is pressed I simply step into the tub and have 10 seconds to get myself situated where I’ll remain until my timer goes off. It’s an automatic action that requires no thought or negotiation.

While I’m sliding beneath the freezing blanket of suck, I’m not reminding myself of all the great benefits of regular therapeutic cold exposure.

I’m focused only on one benefit and one reason.

“I’m doing this because I don’t want to and because of that I’m developing more grit.”

I use a similar subroutine for my high-intensity aerobic conditioning. Once the time has marked the end of my 1-minute rest period, it’s time for me to explode, going all out for 40 seconds. About 30 seconds into my sprint I always say, “ok this is good enough,” even if it’s only the first set.

But, since I already goaded myself into 10 sets, and have a mental subroutine that’s trained to sprint all out at 00:59, I can just allow myself to revel in the push and in the pain…and I always feel like a stud afterwards…once the nausea has passed.

What’s a subroutine you can use to automate your decisions for things you avoid doing because they’re uncomfortable or inconvenient?

Trigger 3 - Dopamine Snacks: This one’s a bit more enjoyable than tricking yourself with Tiny Habits and forcing yourself with Mental Subroutines.

I suggest using Dopamine Snacks for anything you plan on doing consistently, at least 3-4 times per week.

While I’m not a big fan of most “brain hacks,” this is one that I find to be really valuable for both the short and long term.

Here, we’re synthetically stimulating the dopamine system to increase positive anticipation of a very specific action. This is a variation of the typical Pavlovian effect but instead of getting a reward after you’ve done something, you get the reward before you do it.

With Dopamine Snacks we’re actually front-loading the reward system with something that independently stimulates the dopamine system before you do the thing.

Chemicals like caffeine found in tea or coffee, theobromine found in chocolate, and nicotine all directly activate the dopamine system independently of any specific behavior.

This is different from other chemicals like sugar that indirectly stimulate the dopamine system.

We can use chemicals like caffeine, theobromine, and nicotine to reinforce a specific behavior in a way that makes it more enjoyable to do and easier to pay attention to now and in the future.

Here’s an example of how it works:

We all have things in our lives that fall into these two categories:

Tedious but important

Intimidating but important

Step 1: Identify something you need to do that falls into one of the two categories above.

Step 2: If it’s something you can do in the morning, drink or take some caffeine 20-30 minutes prior to doing the task.

Side Note: How much caffeine should you use? It all depends on how you process and respond to caffeine. You can get the dopamine effects of caffeine without the stimulant effects with doses starting at 1 mg per ¼ of your bodyweight in pounds.

For example, I weigh 170 lbs. ¼ of that is 42.5 lbs. So, if I’m trying to avoid the over-stimulating effects of caffeine I can just use 40-45mg which is about 4 oz of coffee or 6 oz of tea.

Step 2a: If it’s something you usually do in the afternoon or evening and don’t want the stimulant effects of caffeine, use 2 pieces of dark chocolate (>75% cacao) or very low nicotine gum (1mg) just before you start the activity.

Side Note: Many nicotine gums come in 2mg/piece. Use your brain and a knife to cut one piece in half…I’m always surprised how often I have to point this out!

Side Side Note: Regularly smoking tobacco is horrible for your health and it’s really hard to get the dosage just right when smoking or vaping. I suggest the nicotine effect only for people without a history of tobacco or nicotine addiction. I can’t stress this enough!

Step 3: Work continuously for 90-120 minutes and then take a 5-10 minute break. You can use a second dose of your Dopamine Snack before you get back into your second bout of work if you need it.

Note: If you’re sensitive to caffeine or nicotine, or struggle at all with your sleep, be sure to experiment with ideal times to use this hack so it doesn’t negatively impact your sleep. Remember, a good night's sleep is the ultimate motivation and productivity hack!

Summary:

Motivation is a poor predictor for success because it’s a temporary and unreliable emotion.

Don’t wait until you feel motivated to do something you’ve been procrastinating on.

In fact, take motivation completely out of the equation.

You can replace motivation with alter-egos and action triggers like: 1) Tiny Habits, 2) Subroutines, and 3) Dopamine snacks.

As always, thanks for reading!

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