People wait for motivation to strike to get something done. Sometimes you get lucky and motivation hits you, but other times it doesn’t. What do you do then?

Do you hope that motivation will pass by and give you the fuel to power through your work? I mean it’s an option, just not a reliable one.

The solution for this puzzle is in the understanding of one very simple statement:

“Motivation often comes after starting, not before.

Action produces momentum.”

                                                                         – James Clear

Even though you might already have some motivation for a task, possibly due to  your interest in it, it won’t be universal for every other thing you need to do. When you need to do your assignments and chores, there is little to no motivation present, thus making it unsafe to rely on the motivation to get you working.

The first step is the steepest step to take, after that nothing isn’t as hard.

So when you get to work and see yourself actually doing stuff and making progress, motivation trickles back in. In your head you’ll be thinking “This feels good. I can do more of this.”

As a result, motivation tends to come after starting and not before. The magic is in doing the first step instead of waiting for something magical to happen first.

After you have started a task, the amount left to do will always be less than when it began. This tends to inspire you to just get the task done.

Moreover, when you will start and accomplish even the tiniest bit of the task, it’s easier to get back to it and resume it, rather than starting from scratch. Your mind thinks that a part of it is already done and therefore there is less work to do.

You can start by setting aside 5 minutes for doing whatever it is that you need to do. After those 5 minutes, it is your choice whether you wanna continue it or not.

However, after starting most people feel that it’s easier to continue doing it and get it done rather than stopping, and end up continuing their goal.

One the other hand, if you choose to stop after five minutes you’ll have still made some progress.

So it’s a win-win situation.

Recap for memory:

1. Motivation often comes after starting, not before. Hence, motivation isn’t always the best thing to rely on when it comes to starting things.
2. Action produces momentum.
3. You can start from as small as 5 minutes.