How to Do Hard Things When You Have Zero Motivation

How to Do Hard Things When You Have Zero Motivation One of the biggest mistakes you can make if you want to be consistent is trying to “trick” your brain. We’ve all seen the advice: “Just do it for two minutes.”“Give yourself a reward.”When I was stuck https://dariusforoux.com/improving-your-productivity/ and wanted to change my life, I fell for it too. I remember watching a YouTube video more than 10 years ago about “proven hacks” and trying it. Well, those techniques worked… for a few days.. How to connect with AgileDad: - [website] ⁠https://www.agiledad.com/⁠ https://www.agiledad.com/ - [instagram] ⁠https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/⁠ https://www.instagram.com/agile_coach/ - [facebook] ⁠https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/⁠ https://www.facebook.com/RealAgileDad/ - [Linkedin] ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/leehenson/

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  One of the biggest mistakes you can make if you want to be consistent is trying to trick your brain. We've all seen the advice, do it for two minutes, or give yourself a reward. When I was stuck and wanted to change my life, I fell for it too. And that's why we're doing this Friday Agile, not so agile episode of the Daily Stand Up Podcast. Talk about how to reframe the way you think. I remember watching a YouTube video from a guru more than 10 years ago about proven hacks to reprogram your brain and trying it. Well, good news. Those techniques worked for a few days. But then the novelty would wear off and I'd go right back to my old routines.

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  And I realized quickly that tricks never ever equal lasting change. So what can we do to work to get that lasting change that we're looking for? So I'm going to give you a few ideas. The first one is focus on the bigger picture. Tricks tend to focus on how, but discipline requires the why. If your reason for working is small, your brain will easily talk you out of it. Most people fail because they don't know, they don't actually know what they're fighting for. And they're just following a should instead of a must. Put physical cues in your big why around your house, or in your phone lock screen even. And when you have a visual reminder of

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  your goal, you stop the internal negotiation before it even begins. If this, if this doesn't work, your why was likely simply not important enough. And maybe it's time to move on to something else. So dig deep and find something that really moves you. Let's go to number two. Slow down your mornings. Sounds crazy. If the first thing you do in the morning is check your notifications, you've already handed over the keys to your brain to everyone else. When your mind is racing from the moment you wake up, it's much easier for lazy thoughts to take control later in a day. The expected action? Spend time in your morning offline. Read a physical book, write in a journal. That's even better. Slowing down isn't about being zen. It's

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  about building the right buffer. When you start today in a calm, intentional state, you develop mental stillness. Later, when work is difficult, you can access that stillness instead of reacting to the first impulse to quit. Let's go to number three. Adopt the screw it mindset. There, I said it. I might be replacing words. Anyway, most people fail because they take their own feelings way too seriously. They think that because they feel tired, they must be tired. Stop overanalyzing every single thought or emotion that you have. It's okay for you to be tired. You're human. Your emotions will take you all over the place. It's okay. You're human. If you want to get things

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  done, you have to learn how to be a bit indifferent to your own thoughts. So inaction, that means practice being detached. When your brain starts complaining, say, you know what? Screw it. And do the task anyway. This is about breaking the link between your thoughts and your actions. Once you realize that your body can move regardless of what your brain's wanting about, you become consistent and you become better. Let's go to number four. Take your body seriously. This is a paradox. You should be detached from your mind's whims, but obsessed with your body's health. Many people think they have a motivation problem when they actually have an energy problem. You cannot mute a brain that is screaming for help because it is sleep deprived of fuel

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  by junk. The action for this one, of course, is treat your sleep, exercise, and diet as non-negotiables. They're not negotiable. And remember, if you aren't sleeping, your prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that handles discipline, literally shuts down. Fix the biology, and the hard things suddenly feel easy. All right, last one. Remove the social media disease. You cannot have a quiet, focused mind if you're feeding it hits a dopamine all day long. If you can't stand in line for two minutes without checking your phone, you will never be able to sit for two hours to do some deep work. Stop taking your phone everywhere. Put it in another room while you're working. Every time you scroll, you're training your brain to expect a reward

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  for zero effort. You're literally practicing being distracted. Is that what you want for your life? To always be distracted? I know I don't. Of course not. Remove the apps. I know you probably did it 50 other times, like most of us, just this time, don't install them again. I can tell you, I recently completely abolished TikTok from everything. And boy, let me tell you, I'm happier. It's, and it's not that the people that I met there weren't cool. It's just, it takes so much less time and energy. And I can dedicate that time to doing things that I love again. It's not difficult to do hard things. It just requires you to stand comfortable without

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  escaping. Nothing good in life ever comes for free. You have to work for it. You got to strive for it. There are no tricks and hacks. There's just action and inaction. And my advice to you is on this Friday, find a way to embrace action. If you do, things are going to go your way. That's going to do it. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you have a topic you want us to discuss, learn more at agiledad.com. And as always, we encourage you to stay healthy, stay well, and stay agile, my friends. Until next time, do take care. Bye now.