Monday Motivational Memo: Staying Motivated

Before giving in, don’t say “I Won’t,” say “I won’t right now.”

Then wait 10 minutes and see what happens.

Will power is not the ability to say “I’ll never do it.  It’s the ability to say “I won’t do it right now.”

If we can take a few minutes and settle down what’s going on inside us, we have an opportunity to change it. To that end, tell yourself, “I will wait 10 minutes before I decide what to do.” Then, do something, anything, except what you were going to do. Make sure you change your environment – and for goodness sakes – don’t set a timer!

What usually happens is that the feeling passes. We get distracted. We go on to other things. Before we know it, 10 minutes has become 30 or 60. Once we realize how well we’ve done, we have the opportunity to feel good about our success instead of disappointed in giving in.

Even if you then decide to do what you were going to do, at least it’s now a choice and you don’t feel like you’re a victim to your own habits.