“Do your work or I’ll fire you!”
My cheeks felt as glowing as an apple dipped in lava. The woman in front of me, 20+ years my senior, didn’t move.
All that stuff we learned before I became assistant store manager… Was it worthless? All the theory about how to motivate employees… It had seemed so simple.
But here I was. In my twenties. And I was supposed to lead a flock of stubborn old women.
Fast forward to 2024.
I was great at self-motivating.
Writing every day? Of course. Motivated every day at 8? Yeah, there-about.
Why do people whine so much about lacking motivation when it was so easy?
Maybe I was just lucky.
I read books about motivation. I discovered taht there were two kinds:
Intrinsic came from the inside. It came from the person himself.
Whereas extrinsic relied on other factors. Like appraisal of your job. Promotions. Responsibility.
The kind we learned about in supermarket leader school.
I never questioned my motivation until one day…
I was tired. Lacked energy. Lacked passion.
I really only wanted to relax, read a good book or play World of Warcraft.
For a while, I sat on the balcony with Nefnef.
Then I got up.
“Mom’s gotta write,” I told her and she pulled back her ears.
I went straight to my desk and wrote.
Motivation is there for you when something is new.
When you have this great idea that you’re passionate about. Or you’ve found a new hobby and all you can think about is that.
Once the newness evaporates, motivation disappears with it.
Then why did I write?
Motivation gets you started. Habit gets the work done.
I wrote every day.
I couldn’t NOT write. It was an ingrained habit. I have to write every day.
Except for three days a week (Friday through Sunday) I write every day. At least 2,000 money-making words.
But I will also often write a little, just for fun, Friday and Sunday.
If you want to make a living with your words, you need to write every day.
If you want to write every day, you must build a habit.
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