How to get and keep up your motivation
A story about haircuts
The lady who cut my hair 4 weeks ago was this very curvy latino, M. Rodriguez. Why won’t I forget? Well, she was very curvy. I had never gotten a haircut from a woman not to talk about a sexy looking latino. So I was hoping and hoping she would be the one to cut my hair. And she did! Oh, and she gave me her card. It was the Walmart, Southside Orlando. I felt good.
Two days later, the woman-effect worn out, I told myself I would no longer cut my hair for $15 but get a $15 clipper and cut my hair myself.
Two weeks ago, I saw two Mexicans by the side of the road holding cards that read, ’cut your hair for $10’. Since I hadn’t gotten the clipper yet, it seemed like a good idea so I went to the barber’s shop. This time, I wasn’t trapped in a room alone with a heavy-hipped latino. I was in a shop with about 10 despacito-looking fine boys waiting for their turn on the barber’s chair.
I finished cutting my hair and felt like a million bucks — like two weeks ago, like a month ago, like all the times I have cut my hair. Anything around me that wasn’t well arranged or dirty had to face my wrath directly. I become so organized, my calendar appointments etc.
The Bulamatari of Congo
I’d tell you a story I recently heard– Henry Stanley, the guy who mapped the Congo river around the 1870s, set out with 228 men for this expedition. It took them 999 days to complete and 114 men survived after the others died from malaria, dysentery, diarrhea, and battles with natives.
Henry Stanley’s story would have been a very inspirational story if the story was just about how he kept pushing his laborers to work in the middle of all the adversity. In fact, the natives were so impressed with his willpower that they called him the Bulamatari, translated, the breaker of rocks.
But his story was more inspirational to me when I heard about his daily routine: He shaved every day!
You may have read that last statement and thought, ‘okay? Big deal!?’
But let me explain. His shaving every day may have been huge motivational cues. While they faced sicknesses and despair, fights in the middle of the jungle, his facial appearance was the cue that kept his chin up. This is because we tend to associate certain cues with certain mindsets. Shaving put Henry Stanley away from the pool of negativity that surrounded him and put him in one of discipline. Remember when I talked about how falling in love helped me be a better person?
Does my hair cut story resonate with you?
This trick will get you motivated immediately
To get yourself up when your motivation battery is dead, try to identify any of the cues that get you pumped. Is it taking a shower, cutting your hair, wearing fresh/new clothes, is it making your bed, whatever this keystone habit is, use it to your advantage. Try to stick to this habit every day, you will also build up willpower.
This post first appeared on my website, http://highlifer.co/episodes
Photo credit: GossipOnThis.com
