How To Easily Motivate Yourself To Work Hard

Work hard, play hard. That's the motto.

But we'll never get to the playing part if we don't know how to get up and work hard in the first place.

So we must motivate ourselves to work hard. And that sounds like an easy task right.

If I told you that you had to motivate yourself to run a mile or write a 2-page essay do you think you'd be able to do it.

Most people would say yes. And I'd believe them.

Maybe you'd turn on some hype Lil Baby music. Or maybe you'd sit and meditate for 10 minutes visualizing the run. (That would instantly put me to sleep.) Or maybe you'd jump straight into some push-ups to get your adrenaline pumping.

And that would be great. You'd probably hit the ground running...literally.

But there's a problem ahead that you surely didn't see coming.

You were hyped and motivated when you started the essay or when you began your run.

But will you be able to keep that motivation all the way through the run? Would you be able to have the same level of hype and adrenaline all the way through writing your 2-page essay?

Probably not.

And that's where we as humans stumble.

Motivation is a fickle being. And I highly doubt anyone is going to stop their run every few hundred feet to visualize, do push-ups, or listen to more Lil Baby tracks.

It just won't work. And even if it does, it's not repeatable.

The key to motivating ourselves to do hard work, is to not look for motivation.

You look for enjoyment, passion, and satisfaction.

If you enjoy people watching, then do that while you run.

And run where there are plenty of people.

If you enjoy writing about psychology. Do everything in your power, to make that 2-page essay related to psychology in some way. I don't care if it was a Calculus assignment.

The trick to doing hard things often and with ease is finding the joy within it.

This is easier for some people than others. But it's possible for everyone. You just have to look hard enough.

The rule of thumb for getting hard things done is simple.

One time quick tasks - use motivation.

For enduring-repetitive tasks - use joy.

If I'm 10,000 feet in the sky about to jump out of a plane, I'm going to motivate myself to take the leap. Once I do it, it's done. We're skydiving.

If I have to show up to the gym 5 days a week and burn 1,000 calories, then you better believe I'm going to find the most fun, satisfying workouts and exercises to do.

Always remember there's joy in everything, it's your job to find it.

Now go out there and work hard. So when the time is right you can...

Keep forward,

Tim