How to Find Internal Motivation

As everyone knows, I'm way more about information rather than motivation. I get annoyed with motivational books or podcasts that tell me, "You can do it! We all have the potential! Blah blah blah!" I already have a decent amount of self-confidence, and I've already committed to making it happen. So, someone telling me I can do it isn't anything new. 

Usually, I like to read books or listen to podcasts that give me practical advice: how can I utilize social media to grow a larger audience? What are the optimum times to post? How can I learn SEO to drive more people to my website? How can I get more press, connect with others, etc.?

But that doesn't meant that motivation is useless. In fact, sometimes it's necessary. But for me, motivation is internal. I don't want others to tell me I can do it; I want to KNOW that I can do it deep inside of me. And for me, that has come from motivational wall art!

Let's be real: when you start a business, or start your own journey of becoming a professional writer, success doesn't happen overnight. It's good to have big goals, but those goals on their own seem so overwhelming and insurmountable. We need to break them into smaller goals. We need to create plans. We need to execute each individual piece of our plan. 

And after we do each part, the response often feels underwhelming. We put out a new social media post announcing a countdown to our book; it gets a few likes, but nothing life-changing happens. That's going to be the majority of your actions as a writer or business owner; the majority of things you do will have an underwhelming response. But you have to keep doing them--because as a whole, they'll be greater than the sum of their parts.

That's where my motivational wall art comes in. A lot of times, each action starts to feel like you're shouting into a void, or like you're running in place on a treadmill. But you can't stop. Even moving forward VERY SLOWLY is still moving forward. And that is the ONLY way to find success in such a complex and competitive market.

So, do I need to wake up at 5 am before going to work to get all my other stuff--freelance work, blog posts, podcasts, etc.--done? Yes. Do I need to spend additional time educating myself about SEO and online algorithms, reading textbooks, breaking down online articles, and taking notes like I'm in school? Yes. Does it feel like I need more than 24 hours in a day for all of this? All the time.

But these pretty reminders on my bulletin board tell me that I have to keep doing them. There is no other option.

And if all else fails, I can always drink more coffee.

Happy writing!
Savy