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Community #3: Motivation
Projects often fail, presumably due to a lack of motivation—especially startup ventures. Our guest author, Cornelia Strauß, is responsible for knowledge transfer and events in our "Service Center for Research and Transfer" office. As a physicist with a passion for language, she has often had to fight against a loss of motivation throughout her life, with varying degrees of success. In our latest blog post in the “Community” section, she shares her own experiences with you.
About motivation or the fight against the "actually"
I’m just going to put forward this theory: “Actually” is a really nasty word. I’d bet a pretty penny that you’ve all fallen victim to “actually” at some point. “I’d actually like to write, but…” or “I actually have an idea, but…”—these are phrases you’ve definitely used before, or at least heard, right?
Pairing with “actually” is the wait for motivation. You’d actually like to develop an idea or build a prototype, but you’re just not motivated right now and simply can’t bring yourself to do it.
At this point, I have to let you in on a devastating secret: Motivation doesn’t just come on its own. It has to be gently coaxed, and once it’s there, it has to be fed and nurtured—a bit like an invisible, diva-like pet. So, once again: Motivation doesn’t come on its own; unfortunately, you’ll have to start without it somehow.
But: There are good ways and means to go about it. So here are a few tips and tricks on how you can go about luring and nurturing your motivation.
1. The worst part (the absolute worst!) isn’t getting started—it’s the moment right before you do.
I promise. It doesn’t get any worse than this. That yawning emptiness of a blank sheet of paper, an Office document, or whatever format you want to fill with life and content is the most draining part of the entire development process. Take a deep breath, and then:
2. Bake some cookies!
Yes, I’m serious. Setting high standards for yourself is important and often a good thing, but it can also get really dangerous. If you set out to develop a complete concept in one go—one that’s perfect from A to Z—it will, with 100 percent certainty, lead to only one thing: failure. I’m not saying the first idea is always crap, but the first attempt often is. That’s why it’s so important to set small, achievable milestones. As cliché as it sounds: even the longest journey begins with a single step.
3. Routine helps keep you motivated.
Motivation is a wonderful thing. Once you have it, time flies by in the blink of an eye, and suddenly—without even realizing it—you’ve accomplished a lot. But then you stop, because of course you have to go to the bathroom, eat something, sleep, or do other things. If you’re not careful, your motivation will slip away again. The good news is: that’s okay. Because motivation comes back when you have its somewhat boring big sister as a permanent guest: routine (or discipline). Does that sound a bit dull and exhausting? Think back to point 2—baking little cookies. If you set out to tackle a small milestone at a fixed time, you’ll often find that you suddenly get a lot more done.
The good thing about routine: The days when things just don’t go your way aren’t wasted, because you’ve still achieved your small, specific milestone (recommended reading on this topic: the Reddit post “no more zero days”).
4. Don’t forget: You’re the one thinking those thoughts!
“Well, who else?” you’re probably thinking right now. That’s a pretty trivial statement, isn’t it? No, not always. Because our thoughts sometimes seem to have quite a bit of power over us. If, through whatever means, your motivation to attend manages to kick in, you’ll naturally benefit from it. The victims of “actually,” on the other hand, become victims of their own thoughts.
That’s why it’s helpful to remind yourself every now and then that your thoughts aren’t an autonomous system. Because if you tell yourself, “I actually want to start a business, but I can’t do any of this anyway and I just can’t make it happen,” your brain will do everything it can to confirm those thoughts—think “self-fulfilling prophecy.”
In this case, it makes no sense to desperately convince yourself that you’ll be the next Elon Musk (don’t forget the little cookies!). But maybe you could think something like: “I reached my interim goal today and didn’t have a ‘zero day.’” That alone will at least slow down the spiral of negativity.
I know from personal experience that this is exhausting. Therefore:
5. Fuel up.
Plan your work and your purpose, but most importantly, plan - and take! - Breaks. Surround yourself, as best you can pandemic-wise, with people who are good for you. Get feedback, talk about your ideas and have them reflected back to you. And very important: Don't fall prey to a self-optimization mania that will only leave you burnt out.
The team of the Gründungsservice' is there for you and is also very happy about your reports! What experiences have you already had with "actually"? Have you become its victim? Or have you perhaps overcome it yourself? In any case you are welcome to contact the Gründungsservice (preferably with a plate of (small) cookies) and exchange your experiences.
Published on September 14
, 2021 Author: Cornelia Strauß