How to Get Motivated

What motivates you?

Los says "Creative Freedom" but doesn't want to talk about it right now.

It seems like a lot of my friends and followers are suffering simultaneously from the same ailment; lack of motivation.

Indeed I, myself, have been fighting a healthy dose of resistance lately. I have one particular project that has dragged on for months and months and everyday the obstacles that stand between me and completion seem to be piling up.

So this is the question I've been getting a lot lately: “How do you remain motivated enough to see a project through? I just seem to loose interest…”

Not surprisingly, Calvin has our answer:

Make a deadline

In my experience, there is nothing that provides more motivation, inspiration, and pressure to complete than a deadline. The more public, the more hardline, the more grave the consequence for failure — the better!

Parkinson's law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

If you really want to get it done, set a date right now for when you will have it done. It will take exactly that long, says Cyril Parkinson.

Why this works

If you tell yourself and the world that you’ll release version one of your startup idea on such and such a date, you’ll have it done. It’s as simple at that. Your reputation and integrity are on the line.

If you whisper quietly to yourself that you’d like to finish that sci-fi novel sometime soon, it won’t happen. It’s not real enough, and there is nothing at stake. Nothing will change if you don’t meet that quiet goal. As humans, we are quite okay with nothing changing. It's comfortable. Safe.

But if you put your personal brand on line and fail, something will change – something very personal and significant. You are not going to let this happen.

Let me give you an example: The first week of January I’ll be releasing another DevTips annual report. I do this every year. I review what my goals were last year, what I got done, and what my goals are for next year.

This serves as a guiding star for everything I do. Every moment I waste not getting those things done has to be accounted for.

Your task

Make your goals as public and specific as possible. Soon you’ll be the person others ask: “How do you get so much done while I’m just watching netflix?”