A conversation yesterday got me thinking about how people find the motivation to complete projects. What is it that drives us? Do you plan ahead, layout all the steps, then set about knocking them down one by one? Do you just jump in and do things as they arise? When do you start working on things if there is a deadline? Does a deadline help or harm your motivation?
I have found deadlines to be great motivators in my life. Back in school I was the kid that procrastinated until it was nearly impossible to get that report or assignment done on time and then would complete it under that panic stress of getting it done on time. My parents would always push me to start things earlier. They would tell me if I started working on things right away I could do things more slowly and take my time, and if I finished earlier I wouldn't have to worry last minute about something going wrong and not getting it done. I understood the logic, even then, but I didn't agree it would work for me.
When I began writing I would just write when I had the inspiration and motivation to do so. That meant I would start a project and after a passionate beginning it would sit and collect dust because either some other book would catch my interest or something other than writing would be more interesting. I would just set aside what I was working on and tell myself I would come back to it but I rarely did. Things sat that way until I began writing during Nanowrimo. Having that deadline of 50k words by the end of the month deadline looming over me pushed me like nothing ever had before. I found myself finding times to write and training my mind to tap into the storyline any chance I got to write. I was a game changer.
Even now, when I write, I impose deadlines if not writing during Nanowrimo. As I prepare for my bike ride I have noticed a similar mentality. I had a plan for my training that was 77 weeks long. Every 11 weeks I would increase to a new level and add things in making it a slower progression and allow my body to be conditioned slowly and consistently. That worked for about 15 weeks when I hit a mental wall and struggled to stay on track. I was so far away from the ultimate goal I was having a hard time keeping the focus. I fell off my plan and had to rework it numerous times. Understandably, people believed I was going to give up. I am not giving up.
With less than six months before the ride now I am in that panic mode of getting things accomplished and getting conditioned to physically complete the ride. And with that deadline coming, I have found my motivation and the dedication I have been needing to push through sore muscles, excuses, and make it the priority it has always been emotionally but now is in every facet of my life. What camp do you fall into for motivation? Can you plan ahead and work diligently toward a goal, or do you wait for the dark cloud of deadline to be moving in?
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