-
The thing I want most is somehow the thing I keep avoiding.
Q: Have you ever noticed that the thing you want most is the thing you keep avoiding? A: It might not be laziness. It might be fear. Fear of failure is fairly self-explanatory — most of us really don’t want to fail, and we’ll do quite a lot to avoid the possibility. But fear of…
-
I’m working hard. Surely I must be on track.
Myth: If you’re working hard and staying busy, you must be moving towards your goal. Truth: Busyness is not the same as progress. And some of the hardest things to spot are the ones that look like high-achieving actions but aren’t. There are two ways we tend to undermine ourselves. The first is plain old…
-
Am I working towards my goal, or just around it?
Q: Am I truly working towards my goal — or just keeping myself busy around it? A: Sometimes it takes looking at someone else’s story to finally see what’s been happening in your own. I once lived next door to a violinist who practiced scales and warm-up exercises every single morning for 45 minutes. Every.…
-
Mini-title: Does your motivation feel like it’s at the mercy of things outside your control?
Myth: Your motivation rises and falls based on things you can’t control. Truth: Even when you can’t control the outcome, you can almost always find something to take ownership of. In sport and performance psychology, there’s a concept called locus of control. Locus is a Latin word (these sport psychologists do love their Latin!) and…
-
In search of flow state!
Q: Have you ever gotten so lost in something you love that you looked up and hours had passed? A: That’s a flow state. And it’s wonderful. But here’s the thing — you don’t need it to succeed. Flow is one of those experiences that’s hard to describe but instantly recognizable. You’re so absorbed in…
