Negative Motivation
By Skinny Farmer
I'm baaaack!
Sorry about the gap in posting. Real life was taking all of my time. But I'm back and hope to post more regularly.
Today, let's talk about Negative Motivation.
What is Negative Motivation? Let me tell you.
I've always been taught that to be successful I should envision my goals. I should write them down to make them more than just a dream. Dream of my perfect day. Set my goals as targets and aim for them.
Maybe it is just me, but I find that nearly impossible to do. At least impossible to do in the way it is described.
Oh, I can write down goals just fine. I want to weigh x pounds, or I want to have y amount of dollars in the bank, or I want to z the world.
But for me, writing goals down never made it real. Thus, it didn't truly motivate me in the way "they" said it would.
Try as I might, imagining such phenomenal success always seemed forced. Artificial.
Mind you, I have a vivid imagination. More vivid than is typical, I assure you.
So I was thinking, if it is hard for me, it must be hard for other folks as well. Especially if you aren't cursed with a graphic imagination like me.
Yes, I wrote "cursed." More on that in a moment.
If imagining myself succeeding or reaching my goals was not properly motivating me, what should I do?
Well, that is were my imagination comes back into play. I have a hard time imagining success; but I find it very easy to imagine failure.
That is why I wrote "cursed" by a vivid imagination, because I can envision failure like no one else.
How can I use that to my advantage? Some of you may already be ahead of me on this, but here is what I'm thinking:
I should envision failure as a motivational tool.
Not "if I try, I could fail and these bad things will happen." Even I am smart enough to know that would be counterproductive. That is a recipe for balling up under the covers and never getting out of bed.
What I'm talking about is to vividly imagine the disaster that awaits if you fail to act.
What if you don't change your eating habits? What if you don't get out and exercise? What if you don't quit smoking?
How horrible will your life become? The worse the better.
Imagine being on your deathbed and never having taken the chance of doing the things your heart really desires. What if you never save up to take that trip you have been dreaming about? What if you never go back to school to get that degree you desire?
Now write those horrible things down and put them where you won't fail to see them.
Then love your future self enough to make a change. And stick to it. If you find yourself slipping, look at your list of horrible consequences. Let that be your Negative Motivation.
And the run as fast as you can away from those things that will bring about those consequences.
Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
I'd love to hear from you in the comments if you have tried this and what you think.
Until next time.
SF
I'm baaaack!
Sorry about the gap in posting. Real life was taking all of my time. But I'm back and hope to post more regularly.
Today, let's talk about Negative Motivation.
What is Negative Motivation? Let me tell you.
I've always been taught that to be successful I should envision my goals. I should write them down to make them more than just a dream. Dream of my perfect day. Set my goals as targets and aim for them.
Maybe it is just me, but I find that nearly impossible to do. At least impossible to do in the way it is described.
Oh, I can write down goals just fine. I want to weigh x pounds, or I want to have y amount of dollars in the bank, or I want to z the world.
But for me, writing goals down never made it real. Thus, it didn't truly motivate me in the way "they" said it would.
Try as I might, imagining such phenomenal success always seemed forced. Artificial.
Mind you, I have a vivid imagination. More vivid than is typical, I assure you.
So I was thinking, if it is hard for me, it must be hard for other folks as well. Especially if you aren't cursed with a graphic imagination like me.
Yes, I wrote "cursed." More on that in a moment.
If imagining myself succeeding or reaching my goals was not properly motivating me, what should I do?
Well, that is were my imagination comes back into play. I have a hard time imagining success; but I find it very easy to imagine failure.
That is why I wrote "cursed" by a vivid imagination, because I can envision failure like no one else.
How can I use that to my advantage? Some of you may already be ahead of me on this, but here is what I'm thinking:
I should envision failure as a motivational tool.
Not "if I try, I could fail and these bad things will happen." Even I am smart enough to know that would be counterproductive. That is a recipe for balling up under the covers and never getting out of bed.
What I'm talking about is to vividly imagine the disaster that awaits if you fail to act.
What if you don't change your eating habits? What if you don't get out and exercise? What if you don't quit smoking?
How horrible will your life become? The worse the better.
Imagine being on your deathbed and never having taken the chance of doing the things your heart really desires. What if you never save up to take that trip you have been dreaming about? What if you never go back to school to get that degree you desire?
Now write those horrible things down and put them where you won't fail to see them.
Then love your future self enough to make a change. And stick to it. If you find yourself slipping, look at your list of horrible consequences. Let that be your Negative Motivation.
And the run as fast as you can away from those things that will bring about those consequences.
Give it a try. What have you got to lose?
I'd love to hear from you in the comments if you have tried this and what you think.
Until next time.
SF
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