A super-underrated skill

Managing your own motivation feels like a super-underrated skill.

The long-term outcomes we all want in life (heath, wealth, relationships, etc.) are always a result of doing hard things that we’re often unmotivated to do in the moment. Managing your motivation is how you get through that.

You have to know how to take action when motivation is high, recognize when it’s waning, and intervene when it’s getting too low. It’s highly personal because different interventions work for different people.

What works for you? Maybe it’s taking a “cheat day,” or talking with an accountability buddy. Maybe it’s taking a break from a project, or stepping off the critical path to try something easy. Giving yourself a win when your failure rate is starting to affect your confidence.

Failing to successfully manage your motivation results in bad outcomes like stagnation or burnout. Both are super-common in the our industry.

Note: this was first posted as a series of tweets but I also wanted to post it here to give it more longevity.