You Don't Need to Know. You Need to Move.
🤔 Where to get motivation when you can't seem to find it
"I don't need you to know. I need you to move."
That's not great parenting, but it's really effective self-motivation. Let me explain.
Yesterday, we told our daughter Eliana it was time to get off the couch and take care of some chores. She buried herself under the cushions in protest.Â
I insisted. She refused. I insisted some more, this time with a 'slightly' elevated tone. She thrashed and said, "I know, I know." This cycle went on until I responded,
"I don't need you to know. I need you to move."
Don’t tell Eliana, but this exchange reminds me of my own internal struggles. So often, I know what needs to be done. I know the commitments I've made to myself and others. And, if I'm being honest, I want that to be enough—at least for now.Â
But knowing and doing aren't the same, despite my brain's best attempts to give me a pass.Â
In moments of resistance, laziness, or excuse, when we find ourselves buried deep into our comfort zones, the best thing we can do is parent ourselves into action.Â
As psychiatrist and author David Burns has written,
"Your error is your belief that motivation comes first, and then leads to action and success. But it is usually the other way around; action must come first, and the motivation comes later."
If knowing what to do and why we should do it was enough, most of our lives would be very different. Knowledge won't get it done. We just need to move.Â
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