Make motivation for yourself. Some advice you already know.

But sometimes we need to hear things twice.

I’m feeling a bit under the weather right now. I’ve had a long weekend and difficult day at work. I’m tired. I just want to watch mindless YouTube videos and go to sleep. I really don’t feel like writing.

Can you relate to this? Whether it’s writing or some other goal you’ve set yourself, sometimes you just don’t feel like putting in the work. Sometimes it gets hard, and you just want it to be easy. Everything we do will at some point tip over from feeling natural to feeling like a struggle, but it’s only for a while. And we can overcome adversity. You can.

Here I am. I’ve made a commitment to publishing something every Monday and right now it’s 10.10pm on Monday night. I’ve had time to do this. It’s not like this is a surprise, Monday comes round every week. I’ve made a commitment to the five or six people that read my writing, I’m sorry it’s late Mum!

Why did I let it get this far?

I like to think of it as the barrier, the wall, the obstacle. When we start something new, it’s different, it’s exciting. We have a burst of motivation and enthusiasm for our fresh new project or goal. It’s easy to do the work, all the positives are fresh in our mind as we start this new endeavour.

But as time goes by, and we stick at it, that enthusiasm fades. We start to see the negatives a bit too clearly, it becomes easy to procrastinate. We don’t have that new excitement to drive us forward anymore, we’ve got to rely on something else.

It won’t take much for us to quit now, it’s much easier to find a reason to stop. Like a long day at work. This is the most dangerous time on the journey. We’ve reached the wall.

What can you do?

Here are two simple things that will get you over your wall and forward to better things. You’re reading the proof.

Visualise your success

We don’t do things without a reason. Remind yourself why you are doing what you’re doing. What are you aiming for? What are you going to achieve? Think of what you’re overcoming right now in terms of what you’re going to achieve in the end, your long-term goal.

You’ll be one step closer to success after this.

Visualise that success, allow yourself to be caught up in it. It will fill you with drive, go with it. The achievement is worth overcoming a thousand little struggles isn’t it? And don’t you dare say no, however easy it might seem.

When you started on this path you did it because you wanted something, you wanted it enough to work for it. The only thing has changed is how hard it’s become, you still want the end result. Think of your success, push through the obstacle, and you’re one step closer.

When you paddle out to surf a beach on a big day, sometimes it’s hard to get out. You fight through broken waves. Walls of white water rushing towards you at quick intervals. Diving under the foam. But if you give up, you don’t surf.

I know it’s hard. But you can.

Think about the consequences

I don’t want to think about how many people have reached obstacles just like this one and have quit. Given up. Who knows what amazing things have been lost because of this damn wall. And what amazing things we have because people have been strong enough to keep going.

What will happen if you quit right now? Maybe nothing immediately, that’s why it feels so easy. But what about after that? After the initial relief of just relaxing. Well for one, you’re delaying or stopping altogether the progress that you would make towards the success of your long-term goal. But how will you feel about yourself tomorrow? When you wake up, rested, in the knowledge that you gave in. In the light of day it won’t look so rosy. And will you do it again now that you’ve allowed yourself to do it once?

Do it now. Don’t allow yourself to start down that slippery slope. Before you know it you won’t be doing it at all. Think of the other people who have reached an obstacle just like this and quit. Do you want to be one of them? Be different. You can.