Staying Motivated for the long term, one step at a time

You know, getting motivated is one thing, but staying motivated for the long term is another thing, but it can be done.

It can be done because staying motivated is about taking one step at a time on a journey.

While we’re all in different places career wise, family wise, health wise, it’s within all our gifting to simply take one, not 10 or 20, but one more step in the ‘right’ direction on our personal journeys, and that’s all we need to do to keep motivating ourselves; take that next small step. Imagine you are playing a game of tennis against a child. It’s a really fun thing doing that and I do it a lot with my kids, but if you try to play a serious game against a six year old, you will quickly become demotivated and bored. The match is too easy. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you try to play a serious match against a professional tennis player like Roger Federer or Simona Halep, you will find yourself demotivated for a different reason. The match is too difficult. But, compare these experiences to playing tennis against someone who is your peer, your equal. As the game progresses, you lose a few points and you win a few points. The match could go either way, but you actually have a chance of winning the match against your equal, but only if you really try to make that difference. In this environment, suddenly you become more focussed, distractions fade away, and you find yourself fully engaged in the activity at hand. The challenge you are facing is “achievable”, and while victory is not guaranteed, it is possible. Activities like these are the most likely to keep us motivated in the long term. We all rise to challenges, but only if they are within our personal unique zone of difficulty. Activities that are significantly below our current abilities are boring. Activities that are significantly beyond your current abilities are discouraging. But activities that are right on the border of failure and success are incredibly motivating to us. We want nothing more than to master a skill just beyond our current horizon. So if we’re looking at maintaining motivation for the long term in whatever aspect of our lives, then we need to keep our momentum going by engaging in those activities where we feel challenged, but capable. Wherever you are in your personal journey at this time, if you’re losing motivation, I just want to encourage you to take your next step on your journey, because it’s within all our gifting to take one small step. You can stay motivated for the long term!