Motivation Overrides Suffering

Imagine this, the sensation of motivation actually overrides the individual desire to avoid pain. Consider what you are willing to do when you are motivated. You are willing to train your body and subject it to pain and resistance all for some higher goal. You are willing to sit down and study or work even though you would rather be enjoying yourself doing something else. Motivation overrides suffering. 

On the more negative side, imagine a person who is highly motivated to take drugs. You might think that it is obvious that a person is motivated to take drugs because they are simply chasing the high or trying to get away from the pain of the craving. But also consider the following: the drug addict knows that his/her behavior is the source of an incredible amount of suffering in their life. Many also report that they no longer even enjoy the process of taking drugs. So why do they keep doing such thing that is damaging their life so much?

Obviously, there is never one answer to anything, but it is likely a combination of the desire to be free from the pain of craving and a high degree of motivation. A person needs to be highly motivated to do something they do not enjoy and that is bringing negative consequences into their lives.

All of that to say, our motivation can enable us to do things we do not enjoy, and that we do not like. 

Motivation overrides suffering.

So when finding out how to be more motivated, you may find that you yourself are actually already highly motivated. But you simply are not motivated in the direction that you want to be motivated in. 

For instance, many people try to get motivated to train. It is not that they are unmotivated to work out, it is that they are highly motivated to sit on the couch and do nothing.

It is not that you are not motivated to study, but instead, you are highly motivated to watch youtube videos. 

Today’s simple exercise is the following: stop thinking of yourself as a person who lacks motivation. You are not lacking in motivation, you are simply motivated towards the things you would rather not be motivated towards. Once you have identified this, you can start working to become more motivated toward those things you actually want.

Learn to hold one thought in your head at a time. When we procrastinate, it is because we can put the task that needs to be done out of our minds and think about something else. We can only do this for so long until the impending deadline and pain become so intolerable that we actually sit down and get to work. So once that thought of the work that must be done becomes the dominant thought in the mind, that is when we begin to take action towards it. 

So if you can bypass the part of your brain that wants you to distract yourself and instead engage in a meditative practice by concentrating on the tasks that must be done, you can become motivated. Hold the task in your mind, and it will become painful. But that pain will actually, turn out to be the motivating factor that allows you to start working. And once you start working, it is much easier to finish working. 

The ability to be motivated comes down to being able to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Though what we often associate with motivation is a “fired up sensation”, that is only one part of the story (though in all truth, it is the best part of the story). But how many times have we felt that motivated sensation and then done nothing about it?

“In the morning I’m going to wake up early and go to the gym and eat chicken and broccoli and get eight hours of sleep each night and get fit.”

You, the night you decide to make a big change in your life

Those are all the things we feel as we are going to bed. We are highly motivated in that situation, yet we do nothing. And then what happens when morning rolls around? Apparently, someone broke into your house that night and stole all of your motivation. It is gone never to be seen again.

That is an example we all know probably too well about feeling the sensation of motivation but failing to take purposeful action in the direction of our goals. And hopefully, that allows you to see in your mind the difference between motivation that leads to action and motivation that is just simply enjoyable. 

So practice today holding one thought in your mind, concentrating on the work you need to do, and do not worry about chasing the sensation of motivation. If you will just get started on your work, many times you will find that your motivation rises later on to meet you and that your motivation overrides suffering.