Today I’d like to talk to you about a subject that’s very close to my heart, and which isn’t often discussed in this way on personal development sites: motivation. When people talk to you about motivation, they usually tell you how to stay motivated at all costs and how to keep motivated on a daily basis.

Why are there so many articles on this subject? Why is everyone telling you how to stay motivated on projects that are normally supposed to excite you?

Here’s my answer: a drop in motivation is natural and unavoidable!

There you have it!

To help you understand how motivation works, I’m going to give you a concrete explanation of what causes these drops in motivation and how to combat them.

I hope you enjoy this article, and that it sheds some light on a subject that is indispensable to all those who want to succeed…

If I’m passionate, I won’t lose my motivation!

You can read this phrase on many personal development websites. Full of Happiness is no exception, as I explain that if you’re passionate about what you do, you’ll never lose your motivation.

You do limit them, but you don’t totally cancel them out!

Why are drops in motivation natural? Quite simply because motivation depends on things you can’t control. This is what I call your evolutionary context. At any given moment, you have to deal with various types of events (happy, sad, stressful, relaxing, etc.). Most of these events are uncontrollable! The death of a loved one, a break-up, a redundancy, an argument, etc. You’re constantly immersed in a continuous stream of events. An alternation of happy and unhappy moments – it’s perfectly normal, that’s life.

Naturally, your motivation is affected. To manage these dips in motivation and stay motivated over the long term, you need first and foremost to understand what I have dubbed “the motivation curve”…

THE MOTIVATION CURVE
The motivation curve represents the typical trajectory of a person who wants to achieve a goal, whatever it may be. I’ve observed these fluctuations in the projects I’ve undertaken, as well as in the projects of my friends and the people I coach.

Today, I’ve been developing Full of Happiness for years, and my motivation is constant as the days go by. I’ve found my cruising speed, so to speak. What you really need to understand is that slumps in motivation are natural and that it’s completely illusory to tell yourself that you won’t have any. After a certain point, motivation remains constant because a certain rhythm has imposed itself once the first barriers have been overcome.

In the following paragraphs, I’ll explain how to motivate yourself in each situation.

1ST DROP IN MOTIVATION: PASSION
When you start a project of any kind, you’re bursting with motivation, everything is green and going well. You’re learning new things, discovering new fields, meeting new people. At first you’re convinced you’ve finally found your calling, what you were born to do, and then… you start to get bored, focusing on repetitive and/or unrewarding tasks.

People who give up here aren’t really passionate about what they do. They’re usually acting in pursuit of a long-term goal, without having thought through their project precisely. These people want to succeed in a field without really understanding what that really entails.

People who get past this initial dip in motivation are in a way validating their passion. If the repetitive tasks become secondary and you do them without a second thought so that you can continue to do what you love, then you’re really passionate.

The first hurdle has been cleared, congratulations!

2ND DROP IN MOTIVATION: FAILURE
Then comes the first failure. As you know if you’ve been following me for any length of time, there’s no such thing as failure! I use this word deliberately here, because the person who gives up at this point will not have re-conditioned this concept.

People who consider that failure doesn’t exist, and who focus on the experiences that make them progress rather than on the fact that their attempt was unsuccessful, won’t give up then.

Have you already overcome failure? Congratulations! Now here’s the most treacherous motivational setback: perseverance…

3RD DROP IN MOTIVATION: PERSEVERANCE
You’ve been working on your project for some time now, you try, you don’t succeed, you reorient yourself, you try again, and then, little by little, you make progress. You learn every day, and you’re sure you’ll never give up. Then suddenly, without warning, an unfortunate external event occurs! A break-up, a death, something that affects you personally.

Your project is no longer a top priority, and you feel helpless and powerless. Even though you’re passionate about what you’re doing, nothing interests you anymore, and your motivation is at an all-time low…

What will keep you going? Perseverance! Perseverance is the greatest asset of all project owners. Against all odds, when fate seems to be stacked against them, perseverance is the quality that enables you to get back up after any ordeal.

How can you be persistent? First of all, you need to have got over the first 2 dips in motivation I mentioned earlier:

VALIDATE THAT YOU’RE REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT WHAT YOU DO
Remove the word “failure” from your vocabulary.
Next, you need to keep in mind the curve I showed you above. If anything ever happens to you, think back to this article. Take the time to accept the blow, even if it means putting your project on hold for a while, if possible. Once you’ve understood and internalized the external event, you’ll be back on track with your project.

If you can get past this drop in motivation… congratulations! I sincerely believe you’ve found your calling!

The key to staying motivated, then, is to admit that drops in motivation are natural, and to understand exactly what they’re due to. Everyone goes through it. You, others, myself, everyone.

I hope this article has helped you see things more clearly.