We all have goals in life. Whether your goal is to be TikTok famous, the world’s greatest golfer, or just finish college we all also have to find a balance with discipline and freedom. If one of your goals is self governed meaning only you have the power to get yourself to do it, it’s common that you may also struggle with authority. The hot topic right now is working for yourself, but what does that REALLY mean and what do you do when you don’t have the “motivation” to get there? I think the issue can be a resistance to your inner authority more than just motivation itself.
If you’re a person who wants to work for themselves or dedicate yourself to a craft, I’m sure that you are also the type of person who doesn’t want to work for anyone else. But sometimes our resistance to authority can be a detriment.
In my own personal experience, sometimes we even resist the feeling of authority over our own selves. For example, I don’t like being told when to do something or how to do it. But if one of my goals is to show my art in a gallery, my inability to commit to applying every other week or even scheduling time to research galleries will delay my success. With freedom must come discipline, without it, freedom becomes chaos. There is a certain level of maintenance that comes with any goal or aspiration. I would argue that when you decide to work for yourself you have to be more dedicated than if you had someone telling you what to do each day.
One skill you need to become self sufficient is the ability to be honest with yourself. Are you really putting your all into that thing you want? Are you letting days go by with no progress because of lack of motivation? What is freedom to you? Are you being honest about where you are and the distance between you and your goals? I promise the distance isn’t as great as you think, but you’ll never be able to see how close you are to it if all you do is think and think and plan and plan but take zero action.
All progress is equal. It doesn’t matter if you do one push up a day, that’s better than nothing and adds 1% progress. Be realistic with your goals and be graceful with your progress. Instead of saying I want to have 1 million followers on instagram, maybe say I want to gain 20 followers a month. It’s more digestible and you’re more likely to be committed to the work needed to get to that little goal which will compound into a big one. If your goal is too far in the future , you’re more likely to be left in the planning stage because your brain doesn’t know how to match where you are with where you want to be. What are the in between steps?
Reflect on what your goals are and how your capabilities match and then formulate a strategy that makes it easy for you to make progress. You will find motivation when the steps to your goals are well within your capabilities.
Let me know in the comments what comes up for you. Have grace for yourself. But understand the thin line between needing to rest and being scared to take action.
Love you, Lady JMW <3
This made me get off my ass frfr
I def needed this because I struggle with procrastinating and actually acting out my plans.
This resonates with me, especially the advice to "Reflect on your goals, align them with your capabilities, and then formulate a strategy." I admit, I tend to get ahead of myself in future planning, and it ends up overwhelming me, hindering my willingness to take immediate action. 1% progress is better than none.