Pushing and Prodding
Stuck? Experiencing more can’t than can? Feeling cornered?
Try asking “why” 5 times. I learned this tool from Daniel Pink and it might look something like this:
First of all, think of an area in which you are experiencing stuckness. Maybe you need to lose the next 5 pounds or become more consistent in hitting exercise or fitness goals. Maybe you think you are stuck financially or vocationally. Perhaps you just have a negative habit that you can’t seem to change.
Ask “why” five times. Let’s use a habit change as an example. Assuming you are in the habit of ditching your daily exercise routine (which almost everyone has at least experienced at some point), ask yourself “why.”
- Why did I not do my exercise plan for the past week? A: Because I didn’t feel like it.
- Okay, why did I not feel like it? A: I waited till the end of the day and I was tired, physically and mentally.
- Why did I put it off till the end of the day instead of doing it earlier in the day? A: I don’t like doing it.
- Okay. Why do I think this is the exercise I have to do? Why do I think this is the distance, amount, type, etc. of exercise that I should do? A: It seems like this is what all of the magazine articles and exercise people recommend.
- Why don’t I do some type of exercise that I enjoy doing? Why don’t I start small? Why don’t I make it easy instead of making it so hard? A: Ummm, I don’t know. Maybe I could start with 5 minutes or 10 minutes of something that is easier to access and complete.
Granted, it helps to have a bias toward brutal honesty and an expectation of finding a solution instead of more problems. But, you can see how continuing to press yourself may lead you into a breakthrough of a new paradigm of thought.
Practice using this tool in any area you feel stuck. As in this example, remember that you typically feel better about doing a little bit of what you didn’t feel like doing than by not doing anything at all.
Take your small victories and build on them. You can do this!
Worth Repeating
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing-that’s why we recommend it daily.
-Zig Ziglar
