Motivation Should Be Sexy, Not Holy
There is a difference between the desire to go for a run and the desire to eat a cupcake. Sure you understand the run will make you feel good later and in the long run. But that cupcake is going to feel good now, and you had a long day. You can resist the cupcake and go for the run, but I think we can agree that one of the two has a stronger driving force.
Now what if you wanted to go for a run with the same motivation that you had to eat the cupcake. I mean, you would be a beast. It wouldn’t even be difficult to put on your running shoes because you would want to. You would, without trying, run so many miles by the end of the year.
You see, that is when your motivation is sexy. It’s tempting. Like a bad thing you know you shouldn’t have. But framed with the right activities, you can enjoy it to your hearts content with only positive results.
Traditionally we are taught that we should learn to cultivate the willpower to resist the cupcake and go for the run. In my opinion, that’s a good way to fail. Don’t get me wrong, some people have incredible willpower and can crush it. But I don’t. And I’m cool with that. I’d rather frame it differently.
Framing is essentially connecting an honest motivation that you have to an activity that you might not want to do. For example, if I wanted to go for a run regularly, I wouldn’t do it for my health. That’s not a strong motivator for me. But vanity is. I want to turn heads and command the room with how I dress and speak. That is vain. Now you might think that doesn’t sound like a good person. He sounds kind of like a dick.
It doesn’t matter. Because if that framing tempts me to go for a run with the same temptation I would have from eating a cupcake, then its exactly what I need.
Oh but he’s still a dick for thinking like that.
Am I though? Or do results speak louder than intentions.
If I look sexy for my wife and my health is strong so I can play with my kids, I don’t really care what motivation I used, because I like the results.
You getting stuff done because you care about being a good father? No? Then how about looking like a badass to your kid? You see the subtle but noticeable difference, yet the same good result?
It doesn’t matter if your motivation doesn’t look pretty, so long as it propels you foreword. Remember, it doesn’t need to be holy, it needs to be sexy. It needs to tempt you and keep making you come back. It doesn’t need to look clean and well kept.
Now go out there and find your cupcake drive!
(Don’t go out there and eat a literal cupcake. It’s a metapho—Oh you know what I mean)
All the best,
Andreas
