More on Motivation

I am having a harder time working on this car than the last one. It isn't that i don't want to do the work. It isn't that I don't have the time. Oddly enough, it doesn't have to do with my skill level, which it did at the onset of the last project.

I think that this go round, I simply do not feel the same need for stress relief that I felt at this point in the last project.

Why is it that our accomplishments seem to come during those times that we are stressed?

It would appear that most times that I have done really exceptionally well; I have felt some urgent stressor to get to work.

So tonight I am going to examine this relationship. I think there are really only a few things in life that can motivate us.

Things that we want to accomplish can motivate. We want the next promotion, the next level in our savings account, the next loan paid off, those five fewer strokes off of our golf game. These sorts of stressors are usually self-inflicted, and have to do with whatever it is that we are interested in at the time.

Things that others want can also motivate. Your wife wants the bathroom back during a remodelling project. Your boss wants the sale you are working on to be complete. Your friends want to go out for a beer while you are working on either of the above.

Finally, things that your morals dictate will motivate. You have to stop at the side of the road and help that family with the broken or stuck car. You have to get to church by eight on Sunday. You have to be a patient and loving parent.

So why cant I get to work on this car?

Well, i think it goes like this. I have illustrated before that I likely have enough toys as it is, so the drive to finish the car isnt as great because I already have a Sunday Cruiser. In addition, My other toys need time as well, so that limits the time that I could be spending. This addresses the "things that I want" category.

Nobody that I know really cares when the car is done. For once, this is a project that I am working on for me and me alone. So that stressor also is absent.

Needless to say, there isnt a moral stressor to accomplish this restoration.

Which begs the question, "why am I letting this bother me if there is no stress to finish the job?"

Because it begs the question is the answer. It is clear at this point that I do find the job to be important, just maybe not as important at this time of the year as the other things that are going on.

So what do you do when you want to get something done, but dont want to get it done bad enough to be stressed about it? I think in this case, I am going to have to just make it a priority, whether I feel that I have to do so or not. otherwise the thing is just going to sit in my garage and take up space. And i think that this exact phrase may just be the stressor that I need. It is taking up space in the garage. If I get it done, at least I will be able to play with it.

Im going to go get to work.
Good night.
Greg