I was talking with a friend last week and he said he had an epiphany when it came to his motivation. This was interesting to me as my last week’s blog was about how action leads to motivation and motivation leads to hope. I pressed in further as I wanted to know more of what he was talking about.
He shared with me that he was not meeting the goals he had for himself, and that was quite frustrating and sometimes even depressing. While sharing this with another friend, his friend asked him if ability or motivation was the problem. Below was his response.
”As I continued to chew on this question it occurred to me that the “fear of failure” was the source of my motivation. Specifically the punishment that comes from that failure. Since fear and punishment are both negatives I would often find ways to avoid those thoughts and feelings. Which in turn, caused me to lose my motivation?
Ding! The light came on! This is THE problem! Not “lack of” motivation, but the “source of” my motivation! With fear as my motivator I would only do enough to avoid punishment. Which really translates to “getting by” not succeeding. I am too old to just “get by”. I have a wife and daughter. We have plans, dreams, and ambitions.
Getting by ain’t good enough anymore.
Ding! A second life came on! Those things should be my fuel! My wife, daughter, our plans, dreams, and ambitions!” (read his entire blog)
When you look at his response, the same is true when it comes to winning with turning your finances around. If your motivation is only to avoid punishment or just “getting by” it is going to be very difficult to do things like get out of debt. However, did you notice when his motivation was in the correct place how clear his vision and direction have become. The one line in his entire blog that you MUST possess if you want to stop living paycheck to paycheck was, “Getting by ain’t good enough anymore.”
When you are sick and tired of being sick and tired, that is the moment by which you will change YOUR life.
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