You don't need motivation...
You need clarity.
Motivation feels great. It can get you amped up & ready to roll in the moment, it can light a wonderous spark in your brain.
“I want that!!”, “IM SO GOING TO DO THAT!!”
Everyone is chasing this buzz & the feeling of excitement that motivation brings.
But there are 2 big, maybe even massive, problems with motivation & relying on it to get the stuff that matters done.
First, motivation doesn’t last. nor does it transfer into endurance (something that is vital for seeing things of importance through)
Second, motivation doesn’t make you think, specifically, it doesn’t ask you to figure out what you need to do in order to get something. You’re excited for a short period of time, but when it comes to results… there’s not much to show for your excitement if anything at all.
Quick note, if you’re interested in my newsletter you may also enjoy my friend Kody’s, Habit Examples: helping you build better habits using awesome stories
Clarity over motivation
Motivation is not even close to the main ingredient for anyone trying to get something done, or looking to achieve a goal.
You know how ingredient lists on nutrition labels are sorted from highest amount to lowest used in a recipe… here’s how motivation ranks on that list:
As you can see, what you need most is clarity.
& least: motivation
Why?
Take this example: motivation is you looking at the thing you most want across the valley of death & not being able to get it
Clarity is you finding a long plank that you can use to get across the valley of death.
Clarity helps you solve your problems & make progress, & funny enough: progress is the absolute best motivation juice you can drink.
Clarity brings motivation via progress. Hence why you need a lot more clarity than anything else.
If you lack progress you need more clarity, if you lack motivation you more clarity.
Quick sidenote: If you’re interested in writing a newsletter & creating something cool, try beehiiv for free (free until 2500 subscribers!!) You can also import up to 10,000 subscribers for free from an existing list.
— Writing is something I’ve found I love more than I thought, & writing a newsletter has highlighted so much good in my life. To anyone reading this: if you do signup for beehiiv: send me a DM on Twitter or reply here & I’ll be your first subscriber 🙂
Disclaimer: The link above is an affiliate link (I earn if you end up upgrading from the free plan) — Beehiiv is an amazing platform though even on the free plan: go see for yourself.
How to gain more clarity in your life
If you can’t find the clarity you probably haven’t overcome your mental struggle yet.
The good news is that struggle is progress on the edge of a breakthrough.
Sit with struggle & go through it, especially for mental hangups & you’ll find yourself in the clarity zone with enough concentrated effort & endured struggle.
Remove distractions when you’re struggling so you can actually sit & think about a problem, rather than opening up social media and scrolling the struggle away.
On top of what I just mentioned, here are some more things & tips around clarity that have helped me so far.
Going to the gym: this will help give you clarity, & energy too.Going for walks: walk a lot, think a lot (or listen to audiobooks)Read with your problem at the top of your mind (same for audiobooks)Defining what you want & outlining where you want to be in 1 year’s time — this will also help you do things that you have clarity on even when you do not want to. (build needed endurance)Imagine a vision for your future & figure out what you can execute on RIGHT NOW, do this once a day then follow through with executionFigure out each day what you can do to move the needle away from where you are now and towards your 1-year vision. 1% better every day is the main message behind this, it’s a great one too: see books: “Atomic Habits” or “The 1% Rule”)Eat less processed junk & sugar, drink less caffeine, and get 8 hours of sleep, these basic things help SO MUCH on every level of cognitive function, clarity included. (Cutting out all processed foods & sugars is not something I’ve completed yet, but on weeks I eat cleaner, I feel 10x better mentally & physically)
There will be bad days
The idea that anyone has a year, or even month, without a single bad day is preposterous.
Even under the idea that we should be progressing 1% each day to be better on our goals & dreams, it should also be said that some days will be -1% days, & maybe feel like even worse.
Life is full of imbalances, & your day-to-day existence will show you that often, I don’t need to explain it to you.
But what I may need to explain is this:
It will become a lot easier to make progress on bad days if you have clarity rather than motivation.
Motivation is fleeting, it comes, it goes, it inspires, is leaves us. If we rely on it we will be left laying in bed waiting for it to come back. It does not get us through bad days, it may even precede them at times.
Clarity lets you see a tough day for what it is: struggle.
& struggle is progress.
Final note on bad days: even the richest & most successful people experience them, sometimes you will not act on your clarity, show up a little more than when you just can & you’ll still be ahead of 90% of the general population.
There is power to turn a rut into a ramp.
my motivational speech is now over
Too Long Didnt Read
Motivation feels great, but it's not reliable for getting things done.
Clarity is the key ingredient for achieving goals and making progress.
Progress itself is the best motivation.
Overcome mental struggles to gain clarity.
Tips for clarity include going to the gym, taking walks, reading with purpose, defining your goals, and executing daily actions towards them.
Bad days are inevitable, but clarity helps you see them as part of the progress.
Clarity empowers you to turn a rut into a ramp and move forward, even when motivation wanes.
thank you so much for reading you lovely human being,
go execute!
your friend writing from his mom’s basement,
jack ♠️