Why don't you want to do what is necessary? Three proven ways to start doing something you don't want to do

It’s appropriate to tell a rather harsh anecdote here:

Full man sentenced to death in the electric chair, but he doesn’t fit into it. They put me on a diet and gained 10 kg. They started giving me only bread and water - I gained another 10 kg. We left one water - another plus 10 kg. Couldn't stand it:

- Why aren’t you losing weight???

- There is no motivation, you know.

So, to find motivation, you can use the following simple but working rules.

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First, let's figure it out: do we need to do what we don't want? Or should this be done not by us, but by someone else? Or just do it for show, this action will not benefit anyone?

So, first, let’s figure out what the goal is and who is pursuing it. But goals are different.

For example, your goal is to get up at 7 am.

Who needs: to me

Why-1:

Why-2: I like the work, the compensation is decent, there is room for improvement

Result: You don’t have to get up, but then you will need to resolve issues with explanations and image in the eyes of your superiors.

Same example, but with a completely different scenario.

Target: get up at 7 am.

Who needs: to me

Why-1: To get to work on time, since there is a clear start time for the working day

Why-2: The work is uninteresting, no career growth is expected, you can find something better

Result: You don’t have to get up, but start looking new job today or get up with the thought that we set a goal to find a new job in as soon as possible and perhaps you won’t need to get up so early there anymore.

Conclusion. We start from the goal. How much and why do I need this personally? What would be the cost or alternative scenario of not taking action?

In addition to personal goals, there are goals of the team, collective, friends, parents. Then we need to set priorities and understand how important these people or organizations are for us.

Example:

Who needs: to me

Why-1: so that sales managers have something to work with at the exhibition

Why-2: in order not to let colleagues down and maintain the company’s image

Why-3: to take another step forward and do something new and attractive

Result: If my goals align with my company's goals and help me grow, I would benefit from working on this project.

Conclusion. In any task that needs to be done, you can almost always find something useful for yourself - the development of personal skills and abilities, the opportunity to practice in a new business, work with new people and establish new companies. Try to find something useful in your business too.

And one more example regarding relationships.

Need to: take mom's documents to the bank

Who needs: mom

Why-1: She doesn't have time, let's save her time

Why-2: Because this is mom, and her well-being is most important to us

Result: There are actions where there are no personal goals and no direct or indirect benefits for a person, but there are relationships that we value and for the sake of which we are ready to perform the action.

A similar result occurs when there is a sense of duty.

However, you can approach the problem from a scientific point of view. There are many strategies for managing motivation in a company. You can try to apply some of them to yourself.

For example, agree with yourself that after performing this or that action you give yourself a gift. For example, when I need to go on a business trip to some distant region of Russia, where the time is different from Moscow, and I have to get up 4-5-6 hours earlier than usual, I always promise myself some new outfit or new shoes upon my return home. There are more good strategy inspiration, which E.V. Sidorenko, psychologist, business coach, guest teacher at SSE Russia, often talks about at trainings. The inspiration strategy is to create an environment that supports engagement and work energy. For example, if you really don’t want to clean your apartment or sort out boxes of things after renovation, invite your friends to help you. Cook for them good table with wine and snacks and several CDs with your favorite films. Surely there are three new factors in the model - good people, interesting films and delicious snacks— will cheer you up and add joy to the cleaning process. And don't be surprised. I have a friend who still asks if I dismantled the boxes after the renovation with the hint that she is ready to join the process at any time. There are simply people who love order and are ready to devote time to making the world a little better - just remember Monica from the series “Friends”.

And there is also motivation “from the opposite”. Sometimes it's the most effective way force yourself to do something. This is where drawing up a “what if not...” scenario helps.

For example, you need to go and speak at a conference. I really don’t want to - I don’t have enough time, the presentation is not ready, I’m very scared to speak. Let's imagine that we are not going to the conference. We will never learn to perform, since this is a skill that is formed only during training. So, we will continue to be afraid. Oddly enough, there won’t be any more time, since we’ll spend 80 percent of the freed-up time on minor matters of low importance, and in addition we’ll always be thinking, how can it be that I was invited, but I didn’t speak, but I could have, and what if it would have worked out? ! But it turns out that the opportunities have already been missed, and more may not be invited.

And finally, the most important thing. All these strategies have been tested on themselves, they all work, but only under one condition. If we are not under stress and are not running a long distance marathon - from the beginning to the end of a difficult project without days off or vacation. A person, and especially a beautiful woman, has the right to rest, to her own time and for a comfortable and lazy existence. And before looking for motivation to do something you don’t want to do, you should think about why you don’t want to and why do it right now. Perhaps we should make the world wait and please ourselves first? For example, drink a cup of coffee in a beauty salon while a skilled master makes you a new jacket and a bath with aromatic lavender oil. And then there’s the presentation, and the business trip, and mushroom picking with your beloved husband, dad or grandfather!

Text: Anna Izmailova, head of marketing communications at the Stockholm School of Economics in Russia.

All the advice seems worthwhile to me, and if you apply at least some of them in life, you can turn yourself into just a different person, free from procrastination.

1. Focus on the reasons

Instead of quitting things you don't like, stop for a minute and think. Why do you need to complete this task, and why do you not want to do it?

You must do it because it is useful: for health, for finances, for your home or for other people. In any case, there is some benefit in what you do, and by doing it, you make the world a little better.

Doing small things is boring and sad, because there is no higher meaning in them. But if you know that you are bringing good into the world, it is much more sublime and interesting.

And yes, no matter how small your task may seem - washing dishes, doing laundry, working out in the gym, you make yourself better. And since you are part of the world, the world also becomes better.

2. Focus on your fear

You may shy away from something because of fear. Some fears may not make your knees tremble, but nevertheless prevent you from completing the task. You may be afraid of failure, awkward situations, or discomfort while performing a task.

Think about the tasks you keep putting off and don't want to do. Is there fear there, what are you afraid of? If you find fear, just accept it as part of you, don't run away or hide it.

Conscious fear can disappear if you carefully analyze it and understand the reason for its appearance.

3. Destroy illusions

Very often we are afraid to destroy our comfort. We are all haunted by a false sense of security, the feeling that we are protected from trouble.

We are constantly in danger, every moment. Life is a series of successes and defeats, ups and downs, and no one is immune from this.

The fear of destroying your comfort is nothing more than a harmful illusion. Your comfort will be destroyed today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. So why not destroy it yourself by doing something useful?

4. Intention, not result

Think about how you plan new things. First, you go through all the development options in your head, and completely forget why you are doing this.

Anticipating a negative result, the possibility of future problems, you put off the task and don’t want to do it.

Unless you are a third generation prophet, you cannot predict the outcome, so focus on the intention.

5. Welcome challenges

Difficulties are present in the life of every person; it is simply impossible to live without them. On the other hand, completing a difficult task, conquering oneself is always a release of endorphins, which means a feeling of satisfaction, happiness, and a sense of self-worth.

Welcome challenges, embrace challenges, and even strive for such situations. A slight restructuring of your view of the problem, and you already want to do what you previously avoided with all your might.

6. Set limits

Somewhere at the end of adolescence, we begin to understand that absolute freedom from business and obligations is possible only for vagabonds, although even they need to somehow earn their own food and temporary shelter.

We understand that we need organization, otherwise desires move an incredible distance away from opportunities. Therefore, every person needs restrictions that he sets for himself.

Start right now - choose something you've been wanting to do for a long time and set a time of 10 minutes for it. Do it for just 10 minutes without being distracted by anything else.

You can even ask a friend or agree with him to do some unloved tasks for 10 or more minutes a day.

7. A little work and then a break

If you are not drawn into the matter right away, you can do differently. For example, you decide to write something. Sit down and write one sentence, then get up and walk around the room for a few minutes.

Your thoughts will already be drawn into the process of thinking about the next sentences. Then sit down and write a paragraph and pause again.

Just don’t mix the same activities, that is, during a break, don’t occupy your head with anything else, such as browsing sites not related to your topic. Instead, you can do a few push-ups, stand on the balcony, or make yourself some tea.

Thanks to breaks, you will very quickly find yourself in the flow, and will be able to write without interrupting your work.

8. Don't let yourself get distracted

Humans are naturally afraid of challenging tasks, and even though you have bravely challenged your least favorite activity, the mind will try to escape to safe areas.

He will pull you to an entertainment site, try to take you to the store for things that you should have bought a long time ago, or something like that. This is normal, he is just trying to do easier tasks.

Don’t do anything that he suggests to you, just watch what thoughts appear in your head and what urgently important things you come up with for yourself. After some time, you will calm down and be able to start your really important business.

9. Feel grateful

Instead of regretting difficult tasks, think about how much they will give you. This point is a natural continuation of point number 5, and it will also help change your attitude towards the task.

Every challenge you throw at life, every difficult task, makes us stronger, smarter, more experienced. Feel grateful that you have been given the chance to become stronger.

You will see that tasks look completely different in this light, and you begin to enjoy them instead of being afraid.

10. Learning and growing

We continue to learn throughout our lives, gaining new skills and improving our abilities. When you master one task, it ceases to be difficult, you grow a little and begin to look for other tasks to grow.

Agree, completing the next task, after which you will become at least a little better, is great way spend your time.

It is generally accepted that the search for life goals and guidelines is a philosophical issue and is characteristic of highly intelligent individuals. Actually this is not true. People who live in harmony with themselves and enjoy life do not think about such topics. This is the lot of those who have ceased to receive satisfaction from their own actions. When a person has pain in his arm or leg, he begins to pay more attention to it and listen to the sensations. It’s the same with the meaning of life: as soon as a person becomes ill, he immediately loses it and, due to the inability to find peace, begins to “work with his brain” and look for himself.

Life guidelines, or Why we act in one way or another

Parental attitudes play a huge role here. Observing the behavior of our parents, we unconsciously copied their models into our own lives. And not those that they tried to teach us in any way, but those shown by their own example. This could be a father who worked around the clock, or a mother who does not have a job, but is constantly involved in housework and raising children. Honor, loyalty, openness, honesty - all these concepts, to one degree or another, were embedded in us in childhood. Life attitudes are associated with parents’ understanding of what is right and what is wrong. They determine the priority. In my family, for example, great value They placed emphasis on education and culture, although I practically didn’t study at school—I didn’t like it. For many families, they are of great value higher education, doing science, art.

How goals are related to the rationalization of life and why you shouldn’t set them

There are people who live harmoniously: they know how to combine work and leisure and enjoy what they do. But not everyone is capable of this. If a person fails to do this, he begins to rush around and tries to find a suitable activity for himself. In order to somehow live, he works at a job he doesn’t like - to earn money. Realizing that this is not enough, he begins to set goals for himself. For example, learn English in one year or lose 20 kg in nine months. That is, he does not enjoy life and tries to rationalize it. One of the greatest and at the same time inadequate people, Count Tolstoy set himself goals for the year ahead: what to read and learn. He did not live in peace. If a person likes to learn English, he does it; when he gets bored, he stops. This is fine. Many people run for meaning all their lives, and before death they realize that there is none and that all goals and guidelines were false.

When a person feels good, he does not think about goals, meanings, or guidelines. He just lives. He sets goals, but he does it for reasons of self-realization, because he enjoys it. When a person feels bad, he begins to cling to everything possible. Often such people find help in religion, which acts as “crutches” for lost souls: it gives them what they need, since it consists entirely of guidelines, meanings and goals. Freud, himself a devout man, called religion a collective neurosis because it gives something that a person cannot understand on his own.

Questions from guests:

How to stop reacting to stimuli influencing from the outside (changes occurring in the outside world and in your personal life)? They make it difficult to concentrate on a specific task.

The great psychologist Viktor Frankl was a prisoner in a concentration camp, but this did not affect him in any way. He lived his own inner life, separate from external environment. And he left there as if he had come from another country.

You need to understand that the more independent and self-sufficient you are, the less influence and discomfort you experience. The world is constantly changing. If the situation stresses you out, you have two options: accept it as a given or change it (change the country or city). The stimulus will always exist. You either need to become independent and self-sufficient - then you will pay less attention to environment, or make a decision - to come to terms with the situation or change it.

Since childhood, I was raised in such a way that a woman is intended to give birth to children, create comfort and family well-being. I had a husband, but we divorced, no children. Now I ask myself the question: what is the meaning of my life?

The meaning of every person's life is in life itself. Children or husband are not the basis, but its components. Stanislavsky said that there is a super task, but besides it there are other tasks. We have many meanings unconsciously. For example, since we are social creatures, we have a biologically inherent desire to live in a group (family), to continue the race. We also have a craving for recognition, which exists as a psychological need. The meaning of life for all people is to live and enjoy it. If you want children, you will find a million ways to have them even without pregnancy.

Every person has been instilled with some patterns since childhood. For example, girls need to get married. This has been going on since 1945, when after 20 years it was no longer possible to get married. Through the older generation, echoes of the war years still reach us. There is no need to get married now. If you love a person, you want to live with him and then have children. This is a healthy situation. The desire to get married quickly is very abstract, just like the common desire among men to have a lot of money and a big car. If you want, you will get married. But this cannot become your meaning. As well as the desire to have children, who, by the way, tend to grow up and leave home.

You cannot use other people to find your meaning. Children cannot be hostages of a mother who “has nothing else but them” and to whom she “gave her whole life.” You cannot give birth to a child for your own understanding. This should only be done if you enjoy tinkering with it. If you are confused about the purpose of your existence, then it is immoral to think that children will give meaning to your life. In this case, they are your hostages.

Growing up in a military family, I was always obliged to do what I was supposed to do. Now I have grown up and have my own family. But the habit remains, and it doesn’t allow me to figure out what I really like and what I don’t. How to learn to understand your desires?

Many of us really don't know what we want. The reason for this is that they have not tried to listen to themselves and do not know how to feel their desires. You need to change your own attitudes and learn: doing what you want is the only way to live life correctly. And if you do everything “by the rules”, “rationally” and “effectively”, then you will not find happiness.

In childhood, people were not taken into account: they were not interested in what he liked and what he didn’t. He grew up, but never learned to understand it. And continues to live, deciding common problems: gives birth to and raises children, earns money to support the family.

You need to learn to present your later life: how you want it to develop. To do this, you need to start with what you didn’t do as a child. From very simple things. Don't sit down to breakfast in the morning until you realize you're hungry. Eat only what you like (this does not apply to minor children, you are responsible for them). Remember: there is no useful and junk food(exceptions include products prohibited by a doctor). An adult can afford to eat what he wants. When choosing the clothes you will wear today, stick to the ones you like. Forget about “gray days” and “dressy weekends”. If you like these clothes, buy them and wear them whenever you want. There will be no other life.

Start with household items. Once you give up doing things that don't bring you pleasure, you will gradually learn to feel your desires. Over time, you will begin to understand what you want to do and how to live your next years. When a person cleans the apartment and washes the dishes all the time, he is not able to realize this. There was a joke about a Jew. When he was dying, he was asked about his last will. He asked for tea with two pieces of sugar, explaining it this way: “At home I drink it with one, and at a party with three, but I like it with two.” Don't let things get to the point of absurdity.

I have a list of things I really want to do. From it I form goals. Where is the line that defines neuroticism, and how do healthy people set goals?

Neuroticism lies in the meaninglessness of goal setting. If you want to learn foreign language in a year, it should have some purpose. For example, you may have a desire to travel the world, for this you need to own English(it's easier that way). You set a time limit of one year because you want to go on a trip faster. If the goal is simply to “learn,” then, firstly, you will get a very low level of the language, and secondly, there is no point in this action: it is not clear why.

Everything should have specific goal. If the action is devoid of purpose and motivational background, then the person begins to force himself to do what he does not want, and is constantly distracted.

When a person simply likes to play sports, he does not have the idea of ​​​​doing a hundred pull-ups, unless, of course, he is trying to prove something to himself. He just enjoys it. And he will continue to study, without being distracted by extraneous things and without being lazy, because he wants to.

It is probably impossible to live life without ever straining or doing anything against your will, but you need to strive for this. You need to do something out of necessity, and not by forcing yourself and convincing yourself that you like it. It should come on its own.

If a person has already refused to do what he doesn’t want, but has not yet realized what he likes, is it okay to do nothing?

Absolutely. Thinking modern man it works like this: first there is an analysis of the situation, then synthesis. Analysis is when you look at an object and mentally break it down. The eye pays attention only to individual pieces. Then he synthesizes - generalizes. The ability to generalize from a certain amount of information is one of the signs of intelligence. Our ancestors had another process that we lack: they could identify themselves with an object. For example, when they wanted to understand a tree, they merged with it, not dividing it into separate components in their consciousness, but tried to feel it as a whole. IN modern world This is impossible, because our ancestors had a different rhythm of life and really knew how to relax. There were periods in their lives when they did nothing for many days, and this was normal.

Can you find meaning in life by reading books?

Literature makes no sense. It can neither teach life nor make a person deeper or more intelligent. A writer is a person who knows how to tell exciting stories in brilliant language. There is nothing else in the books. In prisons, people who can tell interesting stories are not touched, because they are considered to be the owners of God's gift. But Dostoevsky and Tolstoy did not explain any meaning to anyone and were far from understanding it themselves. The contents of Dostoevsky's works contain well-written detective stories that you can't tear yourself away from. No more.

How to find your life’s work and choose a direction for further development?

You cannot immediately understand what you want to do for the rest of your life. It is a state, not a rational thought. You can't say, "I want to do this." This must be an unconscious psychological need for some activity that brings you pleasure. Artists or writers felt that they wanted to write pictures or poems, and did not shout about it. When you get up in the morning, you should feel joy that the work day is ahead. To achieve this state, you need to treat everything in life in a similar way: learn to do only what you want, and not force yourself. And don't do what you don't want to do. Understand what you like and what you don’t.

By changing your behavior, you can change the parental attitudes ingrained in you as a child. A person is formed until he is five to eight years old, then the brain begins to automatically produce mental reactions that were formed earlier. Reading the situation, the brain finds analogues from childhood and has been producing it for a long time decision made. The professor claims that it is accepted 20 seconds earlier than the final wording of the question.

By starting to listen to yourself, to realize what you really want, you force your psyche to change your reactions. A change in the reflex arc occurs - existing neural connections collapse and new ones arise. Over time, you will easily understand what you really want.

The next lecture-consultation by Mikhail Labkovsky in the Chocolate Loft will be dedicated to the midlife crisis and will take place on August 24. Tickets are available.

In our crazy times, when everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere, rush to do something, and do not have time to get enough sleep, communicate with their family, but have time to spend a lot of time on traffic jams, of course, depression is simply inevitable. A huge number of people are susceptible to it and have no idea how to deal with it. As a result of depression, complete apathy towards the world around us appears, the desire to do anything, fight, live disappears... The most good remedy from this you will learn how to want something. After all, if a person has a goal in life, then any work will be a joy!

How does apathy towards life manifest itself?

Usually a person begins to think that he is a little overtired, and that in the near future Bad mood will go away on its own. But the days go by, and the hopeless quagmire drags us deeper and deeper into ourselves. And then the moment comes when you not only don’t want to do anything, but you don’t even have the strength to do those things that you previously had to do “automatically.” Complete apathy grows, the person ceases to be interested in the world around us, I don’t want to do anything, think or even feel. Such depressive states also have a negative impact on general condition organs, such as the heart. It is obvious that from this negative state you need to get out as quickly as possible. But what to do when you don’t want anything? How to want something?

Get some sleep and exercise

Before you understand what you really want, you need to make your internal state stable. To do this, first of all you need to get enough sleep. Sleep is the best healer for many diseases, including depression. It is also worth doing sports. You can at least just include it in your daily routine morning jog or gymnastics to rhythmic music. It is worth paying special attention to the fact that swimming is a great way to relieve mental stress. Setting up your emotional state It is necessary to alternate physical activity and mental work. On account physical activity We’ve already talked, but what to do with mental labor?

More communication

Let's find out how to want to want

So, first of all, you need to pay attention to the fact that in order to want, you need energy. The above methods will help you get it. Now you need to take a good look inside yourself and understand what you are missing. Think about who you would like to see yourself as. If it’s still difficult for you to get answers to these questions, then just imagine some famous person, which you like. Describe her. Highlight positive aspects, celebrate her achievements in something. Now it’s worth thinking about what you need in order to have the same achievements. Make an action plan for yourself. You need to understand that you do not strive to become a copy of your idol, but only strive to possess it positive qualities. For example, if this person has good education- go study. If he is successful in business, strive to create your own business. The main thing to remember is that you need to get excited about the idea with all your might. It should push you to take action. Think clearly about your end result, draw up a realistic action plan that takes into account your free time, the presence of certain skills and abilities. And only after that you can begin to take action. Of course, at first it can be very difficult to force yourself to get off the couch and start doing something. But here, except for yourself, no one can help you. You must start, you must take the first step and you will immediately see how interest appears, energy begins to grow, sparkles light up in your eyes, and every day you will begin to devote more and more time to the path that leads you to your intended goal.

How to want to learn

For some people, the learning process seems very boring, and they simply do not want to learn, they cannot overcome their laziness and reluctance to learn something new. How to fix this situation? Very simple! It's worth making a list of 20 outstanding personalities who have achieved success thanks to a good education. Of course, every person dreams of being successful, and you are no exception. Therefore, imagine yourself as a successful, accomplished person. Think about what material things you would like to have in the future. Now you need to clearly understand that to achieve this, something material, you need good job, and to get it you just need a good education. So go ahead and master new knowledge!

Unlike most people, I love going to doctors. Since childhood, I loved being treated: I liked the cheerfulness and confidence inherent in doctors, the white coats and shiny instruments, the attentive questions - after all, they asked not only my mother, but also me. They spoke to me seriously, as if I were “big,” and at the same time kindly and encouragingly. In general, all my life I perceived going to the clinic as an easy adventure: exciting, but with a happy ending. However, a few years ago I suddenly felt that something had changed. Despite active self-medication, I had a severe sore throat for two weeks, and it became clear that I should see a specialist. But I couldn't. For some reason, this time the thought of doctors made me feel vaguely, but very unpleasant feeling. The mind said that this was necessary, but emotions were actively against it. And this despite my love for doctors!

A month passed, and I couldn’t bring myself to go to the doctor. My throat still hurt, especially unbearable at night. When I complained to my mother about my strange behavior, she suddenly said: “I think I know why you can’t convince yourself to go to an ENT specialist.” And told a story from my early childhood, when the ENT specialist tried to lubricate my sore throat, and I struggled and cried until my mother and I simply ran out of the office. I listened to her story, and a completely forgotten (more precisely, “repressed” from memory) incident began to be restored with all the details, experiences, and memories. After this conversation I immediately felt at ease. It turns out that from then on I continued to willingly go to other doctors, but at that time a “curse” was imposed on the otolaryngologist by my unconscious. I pulled myself together, reminded myself once again that that episode was in the distant past, and then calmly went to the clinic.

1. Analyze the past

So, if we find it difficult to force ourselves to do something, it’s worth thinking: are there unconscious, but persistent barriers erected by our emotional memory in the distant past? Perhaps they are the ones who influence behavior and block today's motivation? Of course, it is better to carry out such “excavations” with a specialist, but sometimes self-analysis can be quite fruitful.

Remembering and “losing” again unpleasant episode, you can reduce the level of hidden pain and resentment

An example from my practice. A client, a young musician, descendant of a musical dynasty, once shared with me a seemingly minor problem. The musical archive of his late grandfather, stored in one of the rooms of his Moscow apartment, has not yet been sorted out. For several months he made attempts to begin this difficult task, but each time he put it off with frustration. “Something inside is preventing me from studying my grandfather’s inheritance, which is generally quite interesting and important for me,” is how he formulated this problem.

We began to explore this “internal obstacle” until we came across a traumatic and therefore repressed memory from my client’s preschool childhood. As it turned out, one day, through a misunderstanding, he took a stack of sheets of music from his grandfather’s work desk (and his grandfather was then alive and well) and painted them with paints. The grandfather was furious: it was his new composition - and punished his grandson quite severely. Since then, all of his grandfather’s papers have become forbidden for the child, marked “do not touch!” For for many years this episode “disappeared” from the hero’s memory, moving into an unconscious, but powerfully emotionally charged layer of “unprocessed” memories. As a result of our joint efforts, this unpleasant episode was restored, “played out,” which made it possible to reduce the level of hidden pain and resentment. Soon the young man began to analyze the archive - the “internal obstacle” had lost energy and strength.

2. Do some preliminary preparation

Let's not forget: anticipation creates desire. Sometimes we don’t start tasks that seem necessary simply because we are not ready. My head is occupied with other things. For any serious undertaking, you need to “mature” internally. Gain strength, evaluate and find resources, determine deadlines, work out an action plan, and then everything will go smoothly.

Here is a short life story told by a friend of mine. “The thirteen-year-old daughter begged us to renovate the kitchen and bathroom - you see, she was ashamed to invite friends to our “unkempt hole.” Indeed, repairs were needed for a long time, but how I didn’t want to start it! Discomfort, money, constant cleaning... I delayed the start of this event as much as I could, despite my daughter’s demands. And then a psychologist friend told me about the “preparation” technique. This was what we needed! I immediately planned the start of the renovation - in a month, not earlier. She announced the decision to her daughter and friends so that there would be no opportunity to “sneak away” from her obligations. I agreed with a qualified and reliable team. Together with them I drew up an action plan. I dragged all the things from the future “battlefield”. During this time, I managed to prepare myself mentally: I cleared away my work affairs so that I could run home without delay, and tuned in to the temporary “mobilization mode” of life. And when the deadline approached, I dreamed of starting the renovation as soon as possible. Now I wanted wonderful transformations no less than my daughter, and I was ready for the upcoming trials. This is what it means - preliminary announcement, detailed planning, systematic organization and enhanced moral preparation!

3. Use motivation techniques that suit you

But what if you need to get down to business quickly? You’ll have to urgently look for ways and tools of motivation that are effective specifically for you. In fact, we all know these methods very well; the main thing is to consciously turn to them.

Future-oriented people are very motivated by the “image of a future result.” All they have to do is mentally focus on the benefits that they will receive as a result of a successful task, and they immediately begin work. Vivid visualization and imaginary stay in the desired future help some people “move mountains.” Here's a way one wise manager found.

“My job required me to learn German,” he says. - I had neither the desire, nor the time, nor the ability for languages. What to do? Knowing my characteristics, I went to the language group and mentally chose an active, motivated student approximately my age and circle. This student, without even knowing it, became my competitor and the “engine of progress.” There was excitement - to defeat him, to prove to everyone that I was smarter and more capable than that who seems to be the best. The criterion is the final exam and intermediate assessments of the teacher. My competitive, competitive nature did not let me down: within a year of study, the battle was won. I passed the exam perfectly and received more points than my talented classmate. What about the language? Well, of course, I had to learn it. Without this, my victory would not have been possible.”

There is another option in my observation notebook. “As a strong-willed person, I can force myself to do what I need to do, but I don’t want to. Usually willpower is enough for the first step, then it weakens,” said another client of mine, an employee of a large company. - But I found a great way: if I take not one, but two steps towards the result, then I’ll already get involved in the business, and it will be easier to continue. I remember I had to prepare a big presentation at the end of the year. It was necessary to read a lot of reports, collect numbers and facts. At first I tried to divide the work into small steps. But each stage took a lot of energy, since doing all this was boring, painful, dreary. But then I decided to devote the whole day to the presentation - and the work began. I got a taste of dry analytics, delved into the data, and imagined how they could be presented clearly and beautifully. By midnight the main substantive work was completed - much earlier than planned. And all just because I didn’t stop at the first stage, but moved on. And the further you move, the easier it is - the work you started already takes on meaning, form, significance, and you already want to bring it to completion.”

Of course, there are many ways to force yourself to work. Your task is to choose what is right for you. Open your diary and look - what tasks are regularly transferred from one week to another? If they are important, why did you condemn them to endless procrastination? The time has come to understand this and start implementing them. Without delay. With inspiration. With good results.