The Art of Being Intentional
4 things I learned after motivation broke my heart
Everyday motivation is a myth.
This might just be my experience, or something I’ve learned from reading several self-help books, listening to a few Tedx talks, and from the experience of people I know.
And I need you to know this so that you can stop beating yourself up about having frequent “off days” or productivity dips.
We are all humans, and over time one thing has been seen as a constant in our nature, and that is imperfection. We don’t always make the right decisions. We don’t always get the timing right. And we are not always happy with the consequences of our actions.
But the essence of life is not to strive for perfection.
The way I see it, we should learn to strive for continuous improvement and ultimately some level of satisfaction that we did our best and got the results attributable to our positive actions.
But I am here not to talk about what you should be doing, but rather how you should be doing what you plan to do. I need you to understand that there is a certain way that successful people undertake their tasks, and that is along the path of being intentional.
Being intentional means knowing what it is that you want to achieve, finding out the steps you can take to achieve it, and actually taking those steps in such a way that it will lead to your desired goal. The last part is the most important. Your plans are nothing if you do nothing about them.
Simply put, an intentional person knows what they want and pursue it until it is achieved. They are not pushed around by the wind because they have their mind set on a particular thing and have already anticipated the outcomes of their actions beforehand. There are so many things that separate the doers from the dreamers. One of those is their intention, backed up with their action, leaving no room for inaction. However, the problem we face today is that we all have a vague picture of what we want, and we are not sure how we will get there or we are just too lazy to actually do something about it.
Before I started living alone in November 2018, I thought I was totally ready to get productive. I thought my brain would be on fire every day with new ideas and I would be vibrating with enthusiasm to get as much work done as possible, every single day.
Then reality came. And I was in my apartment and one whole month passed by, yet I couldn’t point to one single project I had even started, let alone accomplished. Then I would get into these short bouts of productivity where I was highly motivated for a day or two, trying to do all the work I could at once, then I would crash. It was very stressful and discouraging.
So I had to find out how to keep up with my goals even when I wasn’t motivated. You may have gone through this problem that I did several times, or maybe even currently. That’s why I decided to share four major things I learned that helped me get back on my feet and become more productive than ever.
a. Constant Motivation is a Myth
Like I said at the beginning of the article, I don’t believe that everybody can be motivated at every given moment. In some cases, we have to undertake a certain activity to get motivated, like attending an empowerment seminar or reading a self-help book. But you know what? The buzz you get from that only lasts a limited period of time. It’s your intention to act on what you learned that lasts longer.
When people say “I read a book and it changed my life”, doesn’t mean that it was reading the book alone that pushed them to become better. I think they told themselves: “I will practice the content of this book until I become better”. And they acted on their resolution.
Take note, there will always be a productivity dip, that point where you are not feeling motivated and want to give up. But you won’t give up because you have and inner conviction that your actions must lead to your goals. You have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to go through that struggle to get what you want. So you deliberately and consistently do what is expected of you, even at your lowest point. It’s not the motivation that drives you here, but your intention to be that person you see in your future.
b. You must have a scouting spirit
My sister always says that there is nothing you can’t find on Google if you search hard enough. It’s all about what exactly you are looking for and if you have the price to pay for it. And there are so many free resources available today, that if you say you want to learn how to draw or how to create content or how to analyze data, the first question you will be asked is “have you searched for it online”?
My point is that you must always be willing to go that extra mile to get what you need, which will propel you to your next milestone. Don’t be among the sea of confused people who have an idea of where they think they will be in the future but aren’t ready to move a limb to get there.
Be the proactive one.
Be the outlier.
Go out and look for what you need, and use it to push further to your goals. Do me a favour right now, and think for one second what it is that you need to reach your next milestone. Be very realistic and objective. Write it down. Now ask yourself, what is holding me back from taking this particular step? If you do this properly, you will see that you are not as far as you thought you were from your next groundbreaking or even little achievement.
Stop being the think tank a little. Go out and search for realistic answers.
c. Being intentional is a habit
I’m sure you would ask how. But the truth is, a lot of people don’t really understand that there has to be a framework that only you can set up to achieve your goals. Great things don’t just happen by luck, but rather by developing the habit of constantly doing the things that push us to our goals. You want to be rich? Make it a habit to value your time and use it judiciously. Want to lose weight? Make it a habit to eat no later than 7pm everyday. Want to be intelligent? Develop an interest in games of strategy and memory retention.
You don’t see Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffett wishing that they could improve the earnings of their company or their net worth.
They act.
And they don’t just take arbitrary decisions, but rather calculated ones. This what they do, every single day of their lives. They have done it year after year, some for decades.
Do they do it because they are always motivated? Of course not!
I know I’m taking a lot of jives at motivation here, but I need you to understand that it is just as fragile as any emotion, and it can go just as quickly as it comes. But habits don’t go just as fast. You build them gradually and they become a part of you over time, eventually so much that it will be weird not doing them.
d. Your goals must be vivid
What exactly is your picture of tomorrow? Is it clear enough for you to act on? Most times, we find ourselves having a reality that seems to be totally parallel to our dreams or where we see ourselves in the future. It helps to write down what or goals are, both short and long term. You’re allowed to dream as big as you want, it’s your dream and its meant to even scare you a bit (I want to own a penthouse before 2024, even though they are not very popular in Nigeria). It is my dream, and if I take all the steps necessary to save and invest in the next few years, I’ll have a greater chance of achieving it.
Don’t forget that your dreams should NEVER be abstract. They must be realistic and achievable, no matter how long it takes to achieve them. If you leave your dreams unattended for too long and focus only on the present (how to get by each day), you’ll neglect your goals for too long. When you see others achieving theirs, you may get depressed that you waited for too long without acting.
In conclusion, I still believe that motivation levels vary every single day and some days, we might not be motivated at all. Thus they cannot be depended on.
But I still believe in self-discipline, consistency, perseverance, focus, and objectivity.
The strategies that, so far, have proven themselves most effective.
