Motivation doesn’t last. If you’ve ever waited for motivation to kick in before starting something new, this episode is for you…
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
This Episode Discusses:
What Motivation is.
Why it’s harder for women to stay consistent in life.
Why Motivation doesn’t help.
What to do before you get motivated.
DON’T HAVE TIME TO LISTEN? HERE’S THE EPISODE ALL TYPED OUT:
Lets face it…Being a homeschooling mom who also works from home can be pure chaos! As you’ve probably already noticed, despite the occasional laugh track, life isn’t a sitcom and everyday struggles are rarely resolved in 30 minutes with commercial breaks to keep your sanity in check so the right strategies and mindset are vital for becoming more productive and less overwhelmed with all the things life throws at us. Enter the Simply Freeing Podcast…Episodes for the highly passionate, busy work at home, homeschooling mama ready to break away from cultural norms and raise life long learners. So let kick stress to the curb, throw chaos out the door and order in some peace and simplicity…with a cup of coffee, or 3.
Today we are talking about motivation! I know a lot about this topic unfortunately because I used to be really good at getting motivated and inspired to begin something and it never lasted…like never. In the last episode I had a guest on talking about cycle syncing. It's really good. You should go back and listen if you haven't already. In addition to cycle syncing we also talked about consistency. Women have an especially hard time being consistent. Our hormones run on about a 28 day cycle, not a 24 hour clock like men do. Men often find it easier to stay consistent with what they set out to do because that's how they were designed so if you think about it it's going to be especially hard to wait until motivation comes if your feelings of motivation only happen an average of about two weeks out of the month.
Have you ever started something because you felt motivated and then got bored and stopped, forgot about it and stopped, or gave up altogether? Something that seemed really exciting at first shortly became stale or too hard to continue or you just didn't care about it anymore? That lasted 2 weeks because you had feelings of motivation and those feelings of motivation, if you think about a woman cycle, lasts about two weeks! Those are like our high energy times.
I spoke in my Instagram stories a few weeks ago about my excitement when getting a new planner. That feeling of starting something fresh is really fun! Getting a planner is fun for me! But I have a planner problem, and it’s not the typical planner problem that I see…Most people have a planner problem where they buy a ton of planners just to see what they like and they waste money on it. I'm very intentional about what I purchase. I would say that I'm a borderline minimalist. I don't shop just to shop. My planner problem was that I couldn't finish the one planner I bought every year. Every year, I'd recycle mostly empty planners.
As you start learning more and more about yourself, you can begin seeing patterns that you may not like. It's really common to start telling yourself stories in the back of your mind that will bring you down big time. You'll never finish that. You'll never lose weight. Your house will never get organized. Your kids will never enjoy homeschooling. You'll never be like that family. You'll never be able to homeschool.
Motivation doesn't last because it's based on a feeling that is fleeting so it's not going to carry you through challenging days! I like to think of motivation as it relates to exercise. I feel like this is the easiest analogy to use. I'm using this as an example because I don't ever feel like exercising but I know the benefits of it and after I do it, I always wonder why the heck I put it off! Because the effects are amazing, I have more energy and I feel better! If we're waiting to feel motivated before we begin something for the first time or start something up again that we've stopped doing, it might never come and if it does come it's very unpredictable as to how long it’s going to last. This varies widely too depending on your personality.
So here's the hard truth…You have to stop waiting to get motivated to begin something and simply get committed! Get committed to do the thing you say you should do. Get committed to do the thing you say you want to do. Commit to starting that business. Commit to working that side hustle so you can get out of the job you're unhappy with. Repair that relationship with your relative or your teenager. If you're someone that keeps saying I'll wait until I feel motivated to get something done, you're going to continually disappoint yourself. Some of you are not fully committed to beginning to homeschool and you're staying on the fence and that might mean you're keeping your child in a school you're unhappy with.
Some of you are unhappy and overwhelmed with your health or aspects of your life at home but you're waiting to get motivated to do something about it. This period of waiting or starting and stopping is causing you to keep staying stuck. This is why it's so important to be committed to understanding why you want to begin something in the first place. Motivation is a feeling. Use that feeling to get you going but get committed first.
Write about why you want to do something. Speak about it to someone. Pray about it. Talk to someone and have them hold you accountable and then stick with it, even when those motivational feelings are gone. Sticking with tiny habits each day really does add up over time. Have a great week friends! See you next time!
I am super excited to announce that my stress free homeschooling class is back! this is my signature free web class that is going to help you get more clarity around your homeschool days and most importantly, give you the mindset and practical strategies you need so that you can you truly enjoy your days at home
Stress comes out of us in so many different ways. some of us shut down, some of us freak out, some of us give in to the stress, some of literally become a magnet for guilt!
So if you’re brand new to homeschooling, on the fence about beginning, or in the midst of it with a ton of guilt that you’re barely teaching at all, or piling the work onto unhappy kids, you’ll walk away from this class with more clarity around your homeschool choices. Your time with your kids is so precious. homeschooling doesn’t have to feel hard or that it’s a burden.
I’m going to teach you my signature sacred method to help you go from feeling frazzled to more free! You’ll get more done in less time and with a clearer focus.
This class is happening on Thursday, Feb 24th at 9pm EST right on zoom. you can sign up at simplyfreeing.com/sfh When you sign up you’ll get your workbook for the class so that you can take notes and most importantly take action right away.
I am so exited and I can’t wait to see you there! I’ll see you next time friends.