On Motivation

The reason for this blog post is simple. Over the course of my working life, I have undergone numerous ups and downs in terms of motivation. Motivation isn't constant, and there are days you feel more motivated and there are days you feel less so. But this post isn't about the daily fluctuations.

Aside from daily fluctuations, there is a general longer term trendline that I have realised. Over the larger period, your average motivation also fluctuates and your daily motivation depends on this average motivation.

I hope I'm making sense.

Here's a ChatGPT generated image to show you what I mean. The blue line represents the daily motivation and it still follows the green "General motivation" trendline.

Take for example, I had transited into a Cyber Security job after nearly a decade in maintenance. It was a brutal time as I had to pick up the skills fast. I was relatively senior compared to some of my batch mates, which meant I drew a higher salary while doing the same work. I was motivated to prove myself. At that phase of my life spanning a couple of months, I was at my highest motivation.

After a while, the dust settled, Tiktok became a popular platform and it sucked me into a brainless spiral of watching reels after reels after reels. I wasn't putting as much hours into picking up the latest trends in cybersecurity or doing anything much in particular. At that phase of my life, also spanning a couple of months, I was at a low motivation period.

Trying to Change

It wasn't like I was willing to be un-motivated. I wanted to change, and I recognised that I needed to change. Endless reels of TikTok isn't doing me good. It was good as a small bit of entertainment, but I should not be hooked.

Yet trying to get out of the slump in my general motivation cycle wasn't easy. I set myself some goals to read books. I purchased a subscription to HBR. I tried to learn AI through video courses on Udemy. But it did not last. I was motivated for days (cue daily motivation), and eventually it went all the way back. It was easy to remain the old status quo. All I needed was my phone and a TikTok app.

What Worked

Fundamentally, I think what worked is taking small steps, with friends in the loop. There were two principles I had always known but on hindsight these were why I got my general motivation trend back up. First to start small to build a habit, and second to tell people your goals so you are accountable to them since you had committed to it so publicly.

This is what happened for me:

My colleague offered a Duolingo family subscription. I had always wanted to pick up Japanese again, but there were so many competing demands and the poor general motivation trendline. I decided to do it. I had a couple of colleagues on it. All I did was to do it first thing in the morning after washing up. I would sit on the sofa and go through a few exercises for 10 minutes. That is all I am committing to.

After a while, it became a streak, and a habit. I wasn't so thrilled that there was a streak on Duolingo, but it was exciting because there were friend streaks and friend quests so we all had to contribute some study time into the pool and be consistent at it. As I continued, my friends congratulated me on the app for hitting certain goals. It was a simple 10 minute thing every morning and it was fun.

It translated to more though. Because I felt like I could do something, I started being motivated in other areas as well. I started going to the gym once a week and I got started on weights. I had always just gone to the gym solely for the threadmill and now I am on weights. I have also started writing my blog posts again. It isn't consistent like Duolingo, but I think it is good enough. I also started playing around with AI to build a website and tools to help parents to teach their kids after work. While not consistent daily, it was consistent over a the general trend.

Whatever it is, the general motivation trend went back up.

While I still go on the occasional TikTok, I do keep in mind the different goals that I have set for myself.

Some learning points

• Start small. Get a habit up, then get more habits up. For each habit, start small as well. Want to go to the gym? Just tell yourself that you would go and start walking for 10 minutes, or to just do one set of weights.

• Have some accountability. Talk about your experience with friends and family.

• At work, we should also listen to our people when they talk about their goals and what they want to achieve. We should participate in the process as managers because our reaction motivates them. If we demonstrate excitement and follow up with periodic questions, it helps instil commitment.