What keeps you going? Is a typical podcasty or unconference question that hits me regularly.
I never felt complete with the answers I gave all this while. I usually attribute it to the grit, perseverance, consistency, persistence, discipline etc but between getting started and keeping it going there is more that happens. The compounded mindsets are a mere side effects of keeping it going but they are not the starting point.
The first station is a desire to get started. The second station is awareness. The third station is acceptance. The fourth station is action. The fifth station is learning/reflections. The last station is reward.
It is human to give up anytime between desire and action and also get insanely dejected about size of rewards.
What if I told you there is an inflexion point in the second station 👀 let me explain.
Neurobiologically speaking, our brain needs time to warm up and it is a skeptical. So it starts with agitation. The norepinephrine(adrenaline) kicks in. It tries to protect you from doing something stupid and dangerous. Hang in there a little longer and keep doing what you think is worth doing. Slowly your acetylcholine kicks in and that gives you the needed focus that helps you do what you started. Slowly when you make progress and reach a milestone, dopamine kicks in. Wait till your dopamine pushes down the noradrenaline and makes you feel awesome. It is a process. Treat your dopamine as a molecule that keeps a check on your progress and makes you do more of what helps you (we must talk about addiction as well on the same genre another day). We usually quit when we don’t give enough time for the dopamine to take over nor-adrenaline.
This awareness and understanding keeps me going (and all of us to be honest). We grow when we push past the comfort zone. We grow better when we are challenged enough. The fear and agitation when we are thrown in a challenge is because our body loves us. Slowly focus sets in if you continue to do and not give up by the agitation. Finally fun sets in and you feel rewarded.
In a nutshell, your awareness helps you accept the workings of the human system and because you accept it the way it is, your actions are more intentional.
I could given you 10 motivational quotes to boost your morale to keep going. I feel awareness >> fleeting motivations.
Keep going. All you need is awareness. The rest will become automatic.
