Strong motivation, loosely held
jasonleow • 7 Feb 2021 •
@santhoshguru has an interesting way to write here, an approach I coined “Strong motivation, loosely held.” He writes, but intentionally breaks the streak to do other important things, like how he just came back from a family vacay. But he always returns, and continues to want to write.
Not that I’m advocating for this approach here in Lifelog, but I thought that’s an interesting alternative approach that’s counter to how daily streaks work, yet achieving almost the same outcomes. Breaking the streak had always been seen as a huge hit on your morale and motivation, and often the writer ends up not coming back. Extrinsic motivators like the streak are powerful tools for those starting on the habit, and it goes both ways, like a double-edged sword. But yet, for some who can muster up all the intrinsic motivation needed to write daily, streak-breaking is more than a blimp along a long journey.
Which gets me to my point. I wonder if I can ever get to the point of “strong motivation, loosely held” for my work. I’d always had a problem with not resting enough, and driving myself too hard, often to the point of burnout and health issues. It’s just Sisyphean cycles of intensity and burnout all the way.
Can I just break my work streak (not just physically but mentally not thinking about it), and go off and do other stuff? I mean, I can do that anytime, but will I, do I want to? I have no problems with the first part of the phrase (“strong motivation”)… it’s just the “loosely held” part that’s been challenging so far.
How can I learn to loosely hold on to work?
No answers in this post this time round. More like trying to write to think…
Comments
“that’s counter to how daily streaks work, yet achieving almost the same outcomes” I think I would have some debate here about achieving almost the same outcomes. In my own experience, I have felt the difference between writing intermittently and writing every day for a long period of time. The end results of the two methods are not even close.
@Melanie when i was younger, I would tunnel-vision and care only about the destination. Not sure if it’s age or a growing sense of my own mortality (exacerbated through health issues), but I’m beginning to see what I’m missing out, ie what you said about the scenic route. Life’s too short to be just a series of accomplishments, isn’t it?
@therealbrandonwilson hmmm quite true too. I guess that’s why I was intrigued by @santhoshguru’s approach, because I’m not the intermittent approach kind of person, ie I would forget and get confused over when I should grind vs not. All ears to hear any hacks to get best of both worlds… intermittent consistency (is that possible?), loosely held, yet achieving outcomes nonetheless.
love that concept, thanks for sharing. I believe it’s like goal-setting: if you hold on to goals too tightly, you have a tunnel-vision and don’t see the scenic route or other ways to get to the same destination. I believe goals are only good as long as they motivate us to take action. If they tire us out, they don’t serve us.