Motivation

Image by EricMagnuson via Flickr

Lately, I've been examining motivation, since I need a lot of it to get to the next level of my Wujifa practice. Motivation is like the gas that makes the car go, or the hunger that drives the cat (or fox) on to catch the mouse.

I used to think that the process itself was the motivation for me... for a while, this was working pretty well, but lately processes are not giving me the juice they once did. This left me in a very confused state for a while, wondering "why isn't this working anymore?". Well, now I've noticed that I'm changing and a new motivational strategy is emerging for me.

It's about results. It's not doing the laundry that motivates me, it's the clean socks. It's not the doing the stance that motivates me, it's the ease and power I am developing. It's not the process that holds the juice for me, it's the results. I am glad I went through a stage of really focusing on process because now I can appreciate whatever process I'm involved with WHILE I'm going for my goal or vision.

It's something we talk about in class a lot... "purpose" or "intention". At one point in my training I was pretty confused about what these two things meant... more specifically my ideas about these concepts were on a different "chunk size" as my capability for action. I was kind of a "head in the clouds" kind of guy. Now I'm beginning to connect concepts and action in a different way. Now, for me purpose is a more practical thing. For example, to have the money to do the psychology and martial arts training I want to do.

The really cool thing is - when I get the right sized purpose, I get this really cool feeling inside that just naturally drives me through the process. That, I believe, is motivation!


Special thanks to:
Wujifa - I don't have the words to say how important Wujifa has been in my life.

Mr. 20/20 - I really want to thank 20, because a lot of these ideas have come from him, and I'm just discovering how they work for myself now, some 2 or 3 years after I met him. 20, I miss you, man. When are you coming back up to Michigan? :)