I’m sure you’ve heard someone reply to the ever popular greeting,
“How u doin?” with,
“tired.. but it’s a Good Tired”
I was thinking about what makes me respond this way AND why or how the hell that relates to Live My Ass Off. For me I think I get to that point after I feel like I’ve Worked (a.k.a. Lived) My Ass Off. I have been judged with,
“you work too much”… while at the same time
“Dude!, you are freakin awesome” — based upon very favorable results or outcome. My goal is to exceed expectations. I like to Live my life at 110% @ 80 mph. A mentor of mine refers to his version as “9 grand, hair on fire!”
F*%@# YEAH!
But maybe a more important thing to ask myself is WHY did I work (a.k.a. play for money) to this level of possible exhaustion? Unpacking this a bit more, I then ask myself,
“What motivated me to do this??..” furthermore – trying to be proactive –
“What will motivate me, in the future, to fully engage in some similar behavior or task with such commitment and intensity?”… especially if/when I might NOT be motivated?
Aaaand going a bit further What Motivates Me? How do I stay motivated? For this post I’m going to focus mainly on how I stay motivated and use another post to discuss getting motivated.
Why?
Well, because, while I acknowledge that LACK of motivation is a killer and simply stops most people in their tracks, never even getting to “Step 1”, I think that I need to get clear and acknowledge the tool(s) I use to STAY MOTIVATED and on the path to AmazeBalls.
Again, Lack of Motivation for whatever reason (mainly rooted in Fear, in my belief) is definitely a show stopper BUT I think its easier for me (maybe you too) to identify or reflect on times when I’ve “quit”… “Quitting” involves starting, at least a little bit.
For example, I understand all too well what it means for someone to Relapse from a successful (be it long or short) period of time clean and sober from drugs and alcohol. BUT to RE-Lapse, you had to first Lapse at some point, right!?
I’ve heard it said, that “Quitting is Easy.. it’s staying quit that is the real bitch!!” Ok. Maybe so. This is one of those “your mileage may vary” scenarios BUT lets say we buy it… HOW do I stay the course??
I don’t want to just Live My Ass Off for a couple of hours, or a few days, or a weekend, or a holiday break… I want it ALL the time… and I want it “my way” (more on that on my post about Only Child Syndrome (HA!). It’s like I’ve always said about cocaine shortly after quitting. “If I could use cocaine normally, I’d use it everyday, all day long…” yeh, there inlies the rub. You see the irony I’m sure.
OK so, here’s the simple solution I’ve found to have wild success with sticking with it. Have an Accountability Partner. Have a *true* friend. My definition of Friend is a person who I love and care about who feels the same way about me. BUT the quality that really differentiates them from an Acquaintance is the permission that a Friend has to possibly or maybe even intentionally, hurt my feelings because the agreement is that they *will*, above all else,
save my Ass before they will save my face.
I made a YouTube video on my YouTube channel *ThaiMikes” about how I’ve really embraced having an “Accountability Partner” or “Sponsor” or “Mentor” or “Friend”… or… whatever label you feel comfortable with that will be THE person that is a huge reason for your success at Staying Motivated:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNtYUBriXVk?rel=0]
I wanted to share this idea in both written (blog) as well as video (Vlog?) form as I am starting to think that one complements the other.
Naturally, I hope it adds value and makes you think and/or identify THE one (or seven..??) people in your life that you could easily enlist in your wild success. Especially if/when you feel a lack of motivation. Its a lot like the scenario I hear people describing about working out at a gym. “I meet [him/her] at the gym every morning at 5:00am… it gotta tell yah, if it weren’t for them an me promising them I’d show up I’d probably just sleep in…”
Now, go out and Live the Dream… if you’re not, you’re doing it Wrong!
To your Success!
~mikes