This has been a rough week to say the least.  We unexpectedly had to put our cat Swarls down after finding a tumor in his neck/jaw that could not be removed.  The family is all very sad, which has made it hard to do anything.

I have managed to keep daily activities going related to building an audience.  I’m not doing anything crazy yet, so it’s not a huge time investment, and it’s easy to push through for an hour and get it all done.

It’s difficult to find motivation this week with so much sadness around the family.

Even before this happened, I was thinking a lot about motivation.  Ultimately, it’s why we do anything.  We can be motivated for so many reasons and demotivated by just as many, if not more.

Keeping motivation above a minimum threshold needed to inspire action is the most important thing we can do on a regular basis.  If motivation falls below this line, we will not take action which has the potential effect of demotivating us even further.

To keep motivation, we need to be proactive in engaging in thoughts, discussions and activities that continue to add to our overall motivation levels, keeping us above that line of action.  This requires proactive attention on a regular basis.

Motivation can come from many different sources: music, movies, sayings/quotes, memes, photos, and more.  It’s different for everybody – what motivates one person might not have any affect on another.

We need to find what’s right for our own motivation and build up a reserve of motivation to tap into when times get rough, as well as tools to help quickly rebuild motivation when life gets in the way of our goals and what it is we are trying to achieve.

I’m a little surprised at myself, in a good way, that I’ve been able to do anything at all the last 2 days.  I was really close to this cat and haven’t been this sad in years, but because I’ve been proactively working at staying motivated, and have some quick, go to tools when I need a pick me up, I’ve been able to do something instead of nothing.  If this would have happened 3 months ago, I would have shut everything down for weeks and not made any progress.

Instead I was able to spend several hours being there for the kids, wife, and my own needs, while completing the most important things needed to get done to keep up momentum.

Find what motivates you, proactively do what you need to so that your motivation levels stay above the line of action, and keep those additional tools that work for you nearby.  Life will surely visit you with some demotivating news/experiences regularly and you’ll be much better off if you’re prepared.