“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” (Walt Disney)
Creative people usually have far more ideas than they have hours in the day. It’s so easy for us creative types to spin and spin our ideas around in our heads and not follow through with turning those ideas into reality.
I've been thinking about motivation lately and I've come to a conclusion. Motivation is a BIG, FAT LIE!
This article is ©2017 Heather Anne at Heather Anne Art and Soul. All rights reserved. See my copyright notice here.
Motivation is an EMOTION and emotions change like a gust of wind. It’s easy to fall into the trap of not being creative, not taking care of yourself, or not taking care of business because you can’t find the motivation. You don’t FEEL like doing the things you ought to do, so you don’t do them.
The motivation monster is best at attacking the things that would do us the most good: exercising, eating right, getting started on that novel you wanted to write since the sixth grade, decluttering your art space so you can actually create something.
Fitness programs are notorious for the motivation mantra. “Let’s get motivated!” “Get motivated and get moving!”
I say the opposite is true. Get MOVING and then you will get MOTIVATED. Just the act of putting one foot in front of the other, whether it’s opening the page to start writing, clearing work space for that art project, or pushing play on the exercise DVD, will cause you to have the emotion of motivation.
Being a creative and sensitive person means that lots of emotions just come with the territory of being me, but the challenge is not to let emotions rule the day. The challenge is to DO regardless of how you FEEL.
Motivation will drop you like a hot potato as fast as it picks you up. As soon as you feel motivated and you get into a groove, something will happen and your motivation will be gone.
Forget how you feel at the moment and just DO. Write in your journal, meditate, pray, take deep breaths, take your supplements and make healthy meals even if you don't feel motivated to do it. After awhile it will become a habit and motivation won't even enter into the equation. Our emotions betray us all the time. Put your trust in HABITS, not EMOTIONS!
This article is ©2017 Heather Anne at Heather Anne Art and Soul. All rights reserved. See my copyright notice here.