Take Advantage of Motivation Waves to Build Better Habits
This is the time of year for New Year’s promises, and for many people it means trying to develop better habits. One way to set yourself up for success is to take advantage of your “waves of motivation.”
In the video above, Ramit Sethi and BJ Fogg talk about this concept and how you can use it to build better habits. As Fogg explains, a motivation surge is a time when you feel incredible strength and motivation to achieve your goal. For example, let’s say you’ve just spent a crazy amount of money on the holidays, now it’s New Years and you’re finally ready to change your finances – you’re pumped up! During this wave, create a system to help you stick to these habits, whether you are motivated or not.
For example, you can set up automatic savings transfers at your bank. Thus, you have no choice but to save money, whether you are motivated or not. Or, you can turn off credit card information from problem shopping sites. So, when you have low motivation and tend to spend money, it is not that easy. Or, if you’re trying to make it a habit to inquire about investing , schedule an appointment with your HR employee when you are on a wave of motivation. Later, when you do not have such motivation, you still have to go to the meeting and inquire about your possibilities.
The bottom line is that when this wave hits, take as many actions as possible and secure yourself against future frustration. This is a fairly simple tip, but the concept is quite interesting and you can learn more about it in the video above.
How to Use Motivation Waves to Create New Habits, with B.J. Fogg | Ramit Sethi (YouTube)