Transcription
Emotions are just chemical reactions in your brain triggered by external events. Once you learn to control your reactions, you're on the path to mastering life. So this [ __ ] crazy. So what DJ K number [Music] one.
Now, based on the title of this video, you're probably expecting some stoic Sigma Alpha Male guide, and maybe that's partly true, but hear me out. So I've been going to the gym consistently for around about 3 years now, and as much as I love the gym, there have been times where I really didn't feel like going, but somehow I managed to drag myself to go anyways.
After about 6 months of going consistently, even when I didn't want to, and seeing results, I realized something. The way I feel in a moment doesn't matter at all. It only matters if I allow those feelings to change my plans for the day. So every day I'd wake up and set a plan for the day, and if something happens and I'm suddenly demotivated, I used to just scrap the plan and do some instant gratification. I'd go watch a movie or scroll on Instagram and procrastinate until the very last minute, or until I get a surge of motivation. Whereas now, even if I'm unmotivated, I still do the work or the hard thing regardless.
Now, people might go, "Oh, but Canal, won't your work be of a lower quality if you're doing it when you're not actually motivated to?" And yes, you're right. And I have two answers for that. First of all, take the two versions of me: the one that procrastinates until I get the motivation, and the other one that does the work regardless. Which one gets more work done at the end of the year? The one that does the work regardless. Now, yes, okay, some of the work may be of lower quality, but as soon as you get into a routine of doing work, your brain actually gets hooked on it. It's like a runner's high after doing it for a while. You actually start to enjoy it. I'm pretty sure we've all experienced it when you're in math class and finally everything just starts making sense, and it all becomes easy. That's exactly what it becomes like. And I've got this source of unlimited motivation because I'm actually enjoying what I do because it's become easy for you when you're seeing the progress and results, giving you that natural doping.
Now, what was the second answer I mentioned? If you need motivation in a moment, you need to learn how your body works and when you're most motivated to do work, essentially just optimizing your life for productivity and creating the best environment around you. For me, this is just waking up early, doing some sort of physical activity within the day, watching at least one self-improvement video that I can do within the same day, and making sure I eat healthy, real food, like some chicken or some eggs, and maybe some fruit here or there. This is what works for me personally after literally years of trialing and testing what works for me and what doesn't. I can't promise that it'll work for you, but I do recommend you start experimenting and seeing what can work for you. To start with, you can try my personal optimizations.
A question I get all the time is, "Oh, but I'm still unmotivated after all of that. I don't have the motivation to start, or I don't have the motivation to do all these optimizations." And my answer for this might offend some of you, or you might look over it, but it's literally as simple as: stop being a little [ __ ] and just do it. Do it. Just do it. Don't think. Just do. Funnily enough, your brain will work against you and try to keep you unmotivated because you already feel so unmotivated. If you spend time thinking about it, your brain will actually try and rationalize it and give you reasons not to do whatever your hard task you wanted to. So literally, just don't think about it at all. The more time you spend thinking, the less likely you will be to actually get the work done. I personally used to countdown from five to clear my head of any procrastinating thoughts, and then at one, I would get up and do the work.
If I set a routine and stick to it for a year, regardless of how I feel in the day-to-day, my mental health will be 10 times better by the end of the year, and I'll be much better off than I would have been if I had listened to my emotions. Funny that. Why not caring about how you feel, you end up feeling better? It sounds counterintuitive, but try it. I swear for one week, ignore how you feel in the moment, set goals, and do what needs to be done. Forget about everything else. Trust me, at the end of the week, you'll feel so much better having actually accomplished something rather than being sat in the same position, achieved nothing except stacking more work on your plate.