Motivation Is A Lie

Motivation is something everyone talks about but rarely anyone understands it. All the hype and content on the internet around motivation is just an idealistic bubble that make it seem like the holy grail of productivity when in truth it's the biggest reason for unproductivity.

Motivation isn't the driving engine, rather it is the byproduct of the actions, habits, interest or something. There is something called behavioral-activation which talks about how your actions activate certain traits in your body. Yeah maybe a video on the internet would make you feel motivated to do something meaningful but... a few hours later you'd find that you don't feel motivated anymore. So, you look up another motivational video.. then another.. and another.. and slowly months pass by. And you never even start the thing that you were motivated about. It feels productive but all it's doing is activating your brain's reward hormonedopamine which makes you feel all excited and amazing, but actual actions? None at all. The inspirational content is just a cheap dopamine fix for out drug addict brain.

Motivation is a feeling. And like all feelings, it fades away eventually. It's unreliable when you actually want to accomplish something meaningful.

Real motivation comes when you start doing the stuff. When you take action despite the initial friction. When you go against your own biology and tell your brain that this is meaningful to you. When continuing and finishing the task feels rewarding.

Even primal feelings are better drivers than motivation.. your desires and your fear. Your desires make you want to work for them and your fear makes you want to work to avoid the worst outcomes.