Balancing Motivation and Follow Through for Yourself

As a leader, how do you balance the need to self-motivate vs. follow through?

When approaching a difficult task—getting to the gym, writing an important presentation, attending to an issue in your workplace — you may chide yourself for lacking motivation to get it done. However, it's often not a question of motivation, but follow through. You may want to do the task—you know it's important—but your brain talks you out of it. You tell yourself you can do it tomorrow or you have more urgent things to do. Don't let your mind sabotage your aspirations. Make a specific decision about what you want to do - by a fixed time - and then don't question it. Tell yourself: I will work out tomorrow at 6 AM or I will finish the presentation by Tuesday at 1 PM. If your mind starts to argue with you, ignore it.



Adapted from "Your Problem Isn't Motivation" by Peter Bregman.