"Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." Jim Rohn - Entrepeneur
We fill our image libraries, social networks and IM's with motivational pictures and messages. We hop onto Pinterest to find something meaningful to send to a friend who is going through a tough patch. We post insightful quote images all over our Facebook pages, plagiarize them on Twitter and splatter them on just about any given platform we can. It's driving me crazy!
Why?
It bothers me because that is the extent of our action. Is it really enough to bombard ourselves with quotes and do nothing differently in our own lives? We preach but we don't practice. Albert Einstein's quote is by far one of the most popular: "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result." Well isn't that just inspiring! Let's repost that and do nothing with it.
I must admit that my frustration stems from a realization that I am in fact guilty of all of this. I have spent hours in seminars learning about how other people overcame hardship and turned their lives around. I have read the books, subscribed to blogs and watched hundreds of videos. I've reached out for coaching and delivered advice. I have truly "been there, done that". I am OVER IT!
I have motivated myself into a corner of self-doubt and hopelessness because nothing has changed. It's taken years for me to finally let the penny drop. I have motivated myself, yes. But I have not started any good habits. I have taken action, but I haven't continued. I have started many times, but I have not finished. It seems so simple and we see it in almost every success story, but we seem fearful of facing it head on.
I have no idea where my path will take me but I am finallly at a real starting point. I quit motivation. I will create my own now.
