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Motivation Waves: A Short Guide

+What is a Motivation Wave?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqUSjHjIEFg

tl;dr : A motivation wave is a period of time when your motivation is higher than it normally is. During this time you can do tasks that are very hard, and you should use these “waves” to your advantage in order to make tasks easier in the future.

An example would be to clean and organize your room when you are feeling very motivated. In the future everything will be in its place and it should be easier to find what you are looking for (assuming your room stays relatively clean until you hit the next wave).

+Who controls these “waves”?

You control your own wave!!

Sure, there are external factors such as a desire to not get fired, yelled at etc.

However, the strongest motivators are the ones that come from within. It’s what gets you to do things that makes you feel fulfilled. (Getting a job that you want, having strong relationships, being physically fit)

+How to know you are in a wave?

By doing something easier first (y), we were able to motivate ourselves to do the harder task (x).

--If you don’t need to first do y to answer yes to the first question (being motivated enough to do x) then you are in a motivation wave!

Ask yourself!!

Desired goal: Do x

Ask yourself:Am I motivated enough to do x? No.Am I motivated enough to do y? Yes.

It would seem logical to do y first, even if x is what you really want to do.

After you do y, ask yourself again:Am I motivated enough to do x (now that I already did y)? Yes!

+An example

Goal: Get out of bed when my alarm goes off

7:05 am| Alarm goes off“Am I motivated enough to get out of bed?” No.“Am I motivated enough to sit up and reach for my phone(also my alarm)?” Yes.

7:06 am | Phone is in my hand, still in bed“I made progress, simply by reaching for my phone!”“Am I motivated enough to get out of bed now?” No.“Am I motivated enough to turn on music (on my phone)?” Yes.

7:07 am | Music is playing“This music is really helping me wake up, I’m glad I put it on!”“Am I motivated enough to get out of bed? Yes.

7:08 am | I am out of bed“Alright, I got out of bed even though it is really early! Nicely

done!”“I might as well make my bed, since I am awake and motivated

now”

+ Key LessonsIn that last example, I showed four things:

1.) Sometimes it takes more than one step to gain enough motivation to do the desired task.

2.) These steps need to be very easy. If I had told myself to stand up immediately I would have gone back to sleep.

3.) Every step you reach involves positive reinforcement. Once you reach your desired behavior, you should feel very proud of yourself.

4.) The positive reinforcement helps you reach a motivation wave. I was able to make my bed immediately after waking up. It’s not always an easy task but I was prepared to do so at that point.

+Let’s talk about health

Or should I say, American’s lack of it…

What keeps use healthy:

Eating the right foods (nutrition)Sleeping enough (7-9hrs a night)Active lifestyles (exercise)Mental Health (stress management)Social well-being

Let’s make a goal to…

Walk 30 minutes a day

+Waves in Action

Goal: Walk 30 minutes everyday

There are many strategies related to this topic, I am going to pick one: Walk 3x per day outside for 10 minutes each time.

Ask yourself:“Am I motivated enough to walk 10 minutes right now? No.“Am I motivated enough to stand up? Yes.“Am I motivated enough to walk to the the door? Yes.“Am I motivated enough to step outside? Yes.“Am I motivated enough to walk to the mailbox?” Yes.“Am I motivated enough to walk halfway down the block? Yes.“Am I motivated enough to keep walking? Yes. …10 minutes have passed.

“Now that I am out, am I motivated enough to jog for 15 minutes?” Yes.

Back from running… blog about it, find a jogging buddy.Wave harnessed!

+Recap

1.) Sometimes it takes more than one step to gain enough motivation to do the desired task.

2.) These steps need to be very easy.

3.) Every step you reach involves positive reinforcement. Once you reach your desired behavior, you should feel very proud of yourself.

4.) The positive reinforcement helps you reach a motivation wave.

5.) Harness that wave! Do something that you would normally think was too difficult to do. Do something that will make it easier to do this things you want to do in the future

(i.e. you bragged about jogging on your blog, and you have a running buddy – social pressure will make jogging easier)

+Thank You!

I appreciate you taking time out of your day to read about what I’ve been thinking about and working on.

I am by no means an expert on this topic, I am simply a student with a strong desire to learn more.

I would love to hear your opinion on what I had to say!

jordan88@stanford.edu