Have ever started a new project or activity full of excitement, only to find your enthusiasm shrinking over the coming days and weeks?
I think everyone who has lived a few years has probably had this experience. It’s a pretty common occurrence amongst us humans, record-setting track athlete Jim Ryun has some advice for us.
“Motivation gets you started; habit keeps you going.”
Achieving the things you really desire in life will usually take hard work. We don’t always feel inspired to keep at it, though.
Most people you and I know mess up at this point. When the emotional charge that accompanies the early stages of a new venture dies down, we give up. We lack the willpower to push through.
The old proverb that says anything worth having is worth working for is 100% true. If you want to reach your goals in life, you’ll have to put in real effort.
Jim Ryun knows quite a bit about hard work. He set world records, after all!
His recipe involves forming habits to keep moving forward after the motivation wears off.
Roman poet Ovid is quoted as saying “Nothing is stronger than habit.” Even motivation.
What’s all this boil down to? You have some challenging goals to accomplish, right? You know you’ve either already felt that initial excitement or you soon will. Begin immediately to form habits that will continue to propel you toward the finish line when the feelings cool down. Be purposeful about it.
You will find yourself to be more successful than you’ve been at any point in the past when you’ve allowed emotion (or the lack of them) to dictate your actions. And you’ll probably outperform most of your peers that are working on the same goals.
Sounds like a good plan to me.