NickVenturella.com 2-5-18 - Energy = Motivation

Energy = Motivation

February 05, 2018

As far as known musicians go, past or present, throw out the name John Mellencamp out to me, and my reaction is, “meh.â€Not bad, not great, good, sure, definitely not my go-to for music.However, I did just watch his film on Netflix called “Plain Spoken,†which is a live concert of his with his commentary about his life and philosophy as an artist narrated over the playing concert.It’s interesting, and he tells a good story, so I think if you’re any kind of creative person you will find some value in watching it.The one thing he said that really stood out to me was near the end of the film. Mellencamp was kind of offering his modus operandi for his life, which was something like this (I’m paraphrasing):In your overall life span, there is no reward spending your time doing something you don’t want to do.…and he repeated this three times in a row to emphasize it’s importance.This stood out because it rings true with me. Life is short and who wants to spend there time doing things that suck the soul out of them.Sure, it’s all a balancing act. There is give and take throughout life. And at certain points in your life you do what you need to do.However, if you operate with Mellencamp’s philosophy as a true north directional guide for yourself, you know that even when you have to spend time doing things you don’t want to do that they are only temporary until you figure out your next move.The larger idea being (at least in my interpretation) that if you can figure out how to spend the majority of your time doing things you like, that energize you, you will likely be rewarded more in life for staying true to your heart and following what keeps you motivated and fulfilled vs. spending your time on things that drain you and only seem to be cared about by others.So how do figure out what you should be doing? Take an inventory of yourself. What you like and don’t like, what energizes you and drains you, and start – little by little – choosing paths that help energize you and burning the bridges to those things that drain you.A daily journaling habit is a great way to get to know yourself better. Asking loved ones about times they’ve witnessed you happy and energized, why they think that was (though, be careful not to rely too much on what others think…this is your life).Also, simply paying attention to the types of activities you gravitate toward even when you don’t have to. These are all ways to help identify what energizes and motivates you.As you find things, gradually work them into your day to day routine as much as you’re able. It may only be a few minutes here and there, but if it’s something that energizes and motivates you, you’ll be driven to work it into your daily routine more and more…and over time you will.Then before you know it, you’ll step back and realize you spend more of your time doing things that energize you than drain you. Learn to enjoy that success.Have a great rest of your week!