It’s in the Yes

Where is the Motivation?

In the last issue entitled Design Your Time, the Call to Action was to take a fresh look at your daily and weekly routines to make sure your long-term goal is showing up on your schedule. Now let’s address the issue of motivation — getting yourself to show up to that newly allocated time slot.

The question for today is: When you’re working on a big goal, where do you find the motivation? You won’t find it in a guarantee of success because there can be no guarantee. Though it’s inspiring to imagine yourself at the finish line, you won’t find it there either because it seems too far away.

Right here, right now, and with all the competing priorities and distractions of this day is where you must find the motivation.

What helps tremendously is making the connection to joy. If you are only plugged in to the sacrifice, hardship, or discomfort that your big goal requires, motivation will not be sustainable. That leads to the next question.

Where is the Joy?

A few years ago when pianist Chad Lawson was profiled on CBS Sunday Morning, he described the challenge of sitting down to compose:

“In some ways, the piano can be two things. The piano can be an adversary or the piano can be your therapist.” (1)

Then Chad explained his approach:

“When I sit down at the piano, I always place in my mind that this is a time to meditate and to worship.” (1)

His description reminds me of the distinction made by opera star Luciano Pavarotti:

“People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference.” (2)

It would be easy to dismiss the sentiment above as pertaining only to musicians or to those in creative professions, yet I see it as directly applicable to what we’ve been discussing recently in this series about long-term goals.

Whatever kind of goal you have, you’ve determined it’s important enough to undertake. You’ve listened to your inner guidance and said: Yes, sign me up, I’m doing it. That is where this day’s motivation and fulfillment will be found. The joy is in the yes, in working on it, and without attachment to the exact outcome.

In Your Yes

What if your current job feels uninspiring and it’s a huge stretch to imagine feeling “devoted” or that you are “meditating and worshipping” when you work. First, keep looking for a path or opportunity that interests you. The question becomes: How devoted are you to your own potential, to what is possible, and to the positive impact you want to make? Secondly, do things you enjoy outside of work and see how that influences your approach.

Whether your hands are on piano keys or computer keys, the work that comes through you makes a difference in the world, be that with your immediate circle or on a larger scale.

Answering the inner call and tending to your most important work is a daily Yes. With an attitude of wonder and openness about how it will evolve, the work becomes transformative, an art form, and even, sacred.

This Week’s Call To Action:

• As you work on your long-term goal, how will you make the connection to joy?

The Joy is in the Yes.

Notes:
(1)[CBS Sunday Morning]. (2015, August 30). Chad Lawson puts his own touch on Chopin. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLv4Z5sWWsE

(2) Article: Devoted, Not Disciplined (published 2009)