Motivation is a strange concept. If someone ever figures out how to unlock the motivation lurking inside everyone, they'll become a billionaire and the world will be a better place. Seriously, think of all the times you've sincerely wanted to do something, anything, and honestly felt you needed to do it, and didn't.
Weight loss and exercise are two things that come immediately to my mind. So many people want or need to exercise and lose weight. They know it with every fiber of their being. They talk to friends and family about it. They spend money on diet plans and gym memberships, and yet few actually follow through. I'm no different. I was slim most of my early life and exercised regularly, but as I hit my thirties, I got a desk-job and stopped exercising as much and started to gain weight. I'm 5'9" and prior to that, my average weight was about 200 pounds.
Starting in my early thirties I started a yo-yo where I'd gain 25 pounds over the course of a year, then get motivated, spend 3-4 months dieting and exercising, drop the weight, then slack off, re-gain the weight and repeat the cycle.
While my wife was pregnant with our first daughter, Sofie, in 2008, I was that sympathetic eating husband who gained weight right along with my wife. Once my wife got pregnant, I didn't follow my yearly trend of getting serious and dropping weight. Sofie was born in June 2008 and by January 2009, I had ballooned up to almost 260 pounds. This was heavier than I'd ever been by 25 pounds!
All of 2008 I told myself that I needed to lose weight but kept right on eating. I'd never experienced acid reflux but was having that several times a week. I found myself taking deep breaths to tie my shoes.
I wish I could tell you why motivation finally struck me in early 2009. I don't think the scale going up to 260 lbs, from 259 lbs. was some wake-up call. I'd already replaced all my pants and many shirt because my old ones no longer fit, so that wasn't a defining moment. I honestly don't know what specifically motivated me, but one day in early 2009, I made up my mind to get back in shape and for some reason I had the motivation. Suddenly my will was like iron. I still liked sweets, but my willpower was unbreakable, and I didn't indulge. I maintained my work-out routine five days a week, hard! The weight dropped and by the end of the year, I was 195 lbs,, Something I hadn't been in a decade.
I've been able to maintain my five-day a week work-out routine ever since and actually over the next few years got all the way down to 175 lbs. around 2015. Since then, I've gained about 12 lbs. and currently sit about 187 lbs. My willpower is no longer like iron though, and I indulge in more sweets than I'd like. I'm kind of back in that zone where I'm telling myself I want/need to drop those 12 pounds and just can't seem to do it. Not sure why the motivation hasn't hit me? I know what I need to do. I've done it before, so you'd think it would be easy to "flip the switch," but it's not. It's not for me, and I suspect it's not for a lot of people. In fact, I know it's not easy for most people.
Okay Russell, well what does weight loss have to do with writing? Well, dieting takes discipline and motivation, just like writing. I suppose there are those special writers who have natural talent and can just sit down and magic flows from their fingertips with minimal effort, but for most of us, writing is tough. There are so many distractions to writing, especially now with social media and the internet literally at our fingertips, beckoning us away from our goal.
As I've detailed in other posts, I've wanted to write Relentless Blades for almost twenty years. I earnestly thought I was motivated, and yet, I didn't do anything. Much like losing weight, I wish I could tell you what suddenly lit the fire in September 2022, but I can't. Truthfully, I woke up one morning and just had the iron will to write the novel.
Was I sure I'd finish? Of course not. How could I be sure, after almost twenty years of not writing it? However, I felt I was going to. I announced to my wife and sister that I was going to write the book and by January 31, 2023, I finished the first draft of 122,500 words.
It wasn't easy, but for some reason, unknown to me, I had the will this time to finish the deal, where I'd quit so many times before.
While I can't give you the magic bullet to unlock your hidden motivation, what I can do is ensure you that it's there! You've got the motivation inside you to accomplish whatever you want. The key is to never stop pursuing your dreams and goals and when the time is right, you'll unlock that hidden motivation and reach them!
It's not the best picture, but here I was in 2009 around 255 pounds.
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