Not feeling motivated? Why NOW is the time to set goals.
Are you struggling in the motivation department?
Can't figure out why it’s so difficult to get moving on goals that are important to you?
Maybe even thinking that something is wrong with you? A character flaw, perhaps?
Well, I'm here to reassure you that it's NORMAL to feel this way... even if you feel this way the majority of the time.
What to Do When You Lack Motivation
Times of low motivation are what habit expert Dr. BJ Fogg calls motivation troughs. Dr. Fogg is a behavior scientist from Stanford University. He explains that we have natural peaks and troughs in our motivation level. And he believes that our typical state is in the troughs (especially when it comes to health behaviors).
Dr. Fogg explains that when our motivation level is high, we can (temporarily) do hard things. But when our motivation level is low, we cannot do hard things.
Makes sense, right?
An important point here... This doesn't mean we can't do anything when motivation is low. It just means that we need to do things that are less difficult — tinier actions, smaller steps.
He also points out something that I find profound:
We tend to make resolutions at the PEAK of a motivation wave, when we should be making them at the TROUGH.
Recipe for Failure
We tend to make resolutions or set goals when we're highly-motivated for change. In that highly-motivated state, it's not a problem to do hard things, so the tendency is to set goals that are pretty difficult.
But we're setting ourselves up for failure. When the motivation subsides (and it WILL subside), we're left with a difficult goal and low motivation. In other words, a recipe for failure.
My Own Experience with This
This concept resonates with me because when I look back on resolutions that I’ve been successful with, they have something in common. They all seemed too easy when I set them. Things like:
Publishing one new blog post per week.
Trying one new whole-food plant-based recipe per week.
Averaging two strength exercises per day.
To be honest, I thought I would crush these goals, and end up surpassing my expectations. When you're in a high motivation state, this is how you think.
But the truth is that it was difficult to consistently do these things. There were times of serious struggle.
When I set these resolutions, I wasn't aware of Dr. Fogg's work. I was just keeping my goals realistic, according to the SMART framework — setting goals that are:
Specific
Measurable
Action-oriented
Realistic
Time-bound
In the beginning it was easy to perform these behaviors. I was excited about doing them. It was fun.
But as the newness wore off, it wasn't so exciting and fun. I realized that these things took serious dedication and hard work.
There were many weeks when I lacked motivation. I simply didn't feel like doing it.
What Worked
Fortunately I (purposely) built in some public accountability, which kept me going. Accountability is another HUGE topic when it comes to goals, which I won’t dive into here. I'll just point out that accountability works. 🙂
What also works is setting behavior-based goals that are not too difficult and do not require too much time.
Goals need to be doable when motivation is low and you're short on time.
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Success Secret
If you're currently in a low-motivation state, it’s important to understand that now is the perfect time to set a realistic goal. Because you know how it feels to not want to do that thing, and you can figure out what is doable in that state.
If you’re feeling unmotivated, understand that this is exactly how you will feel during the inevitable (and normal) motivation troughs that you will experience.
So the question is, what is a small action you can take right now? (NOT on Monday, or on New Years.) An action you can take, even when:
It’s boring.
It seems like the action makes no difference.
You simply don't feel like it.
You're short on time.
Prove it to yourself, by taking that small action TODAY, while motivation is low. What is doable for you in this state?
That's your realistic goal. That’s something you can stay consistent with.
This goal may not seem very exciting, but the results over time will be exciting — when you look back one day and realize the progress you’ve made. That’s a great feeling… and highly-motivating.
But you won't get to this point if you can't stay consistent. And tiny habits are super-helpful when it comes to consistency.
Small, consistent steps lead to BIG changes over time.
How About You?
I’d love to hear about your experience with setting small goals that have made a big difference for you. Please leave a comment below!
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This post was originally published on 12/1/20.
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A profound lesson I learned from habit expert Dr. BJ Fogg.