Clarity Often Beats Motivation

People often wait until they feel motivated before they take actions. They often believe that they need a sudden burst of inspiration, or a certain mood, or even a spark of passion in order to make a move or begin an important task. But what they fail to understand is that, more often than not, motivation can just be like emotions. And like emotions, it can be unstable, temporary, and might not last. This is why you will see people feeling motivated about something but as soon as the source of motivation goes away, they will grow cold feet. You cannot rely on motivation to build your long-term goals. If you only work when you feel motivated or inspired, you may rarely work. The secret to continuous progress does not lie in motivation, but in clarity.

One of the things that make someone to procrastinate or not to get on with a task is lack of clarity, or ambiguity. Imagine you say, "I want to get in shape," or "I want to improve on my vocabulary," or "I want to master a skill." The brain will immediately view it as a massive and overwhelming task. And this can actually lead to procrastination, because you will not even know where and how to start. But when you say something like this "I want to register in the gym and be going 3 times a week," or "I want to be reading 2 chapters of English literature daily to improve my vocabulary," or "I want to register in an online class to learn a new skill." It will bring clarity to what you want to do and reduce ambiguity. It is direction that actually brings clarity. Imagine going to where you do not have an idea of the terrain, you may become frustrated on the way. But when you know where you are going to, it will become easier.

You also have to learn to design your daily activities, because they are like the blueprints of your life. I once stayed with an uncle for a few weeks during one of our vacations some years back. I noticed something about him. A night before the next day, he would take a pen and book and write down a couple of things. I observed him for a few nights and saw the pattern, then I asked him what it was that he used to write. He smiled and told me that he was writing down his activities for the next day. It taught me a great lesson. If you are not clear about what you want to do, then you may become distracted with other things. But when you have defined the things and the activities that you need to perform, you will gain focus, and the tasks will become a lot easier to undertake.

I have come to realise that action is actually what creates the zeal for continuity, not necessarily motivation. Someone might say that they want to become a lawyer, maybe because they love the way lawyers dress, or because their friends are in law school, or some other reasons. But the same person can still be thinking about it and time will be passing by. But as soon as they take step to register for law school, and take the actions, it will set other things in motion. Before you know it, you will complete the school. When you take an action towards what you believe in, or towards your goal, you will gain more zeal to keep going, instead of just waiting for the perfect moment. Do not wait to feel ready before you take action, because you may not even feel ready. Just take the step nonetheless.

In addition to this, you have to create a system. In order to fulfill your potentials, you have to shift your focus from expecting to be constantly motivated, to creating a system. That is, know what to do per time, create a working schedule, and use time in your advantage. Clarity of schedule, and clarity purpose will beat raw talent. Someone may not be too talented, but their commitment to their daily tasks, and the clarity of purpose will make them to achieve more than the people who have more talents but lack action. This is why you have to commit to a clear plan, and keep taking continuous action.

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