The Right Reasons to Do Things
On motivation and values.
Motivation is weird.
It’s an important thing to think about, but it doesn’t really matter when it comes to getting stuff done.
Or does it?
Motivation is, pretty much always, the reason why you start doing something, but it’s never the reason you finish.
But still, motivation is important. Motivation is connected to our desires, our values, and who we are.
I don’t know if what I’m dealing with right now is a crisis of motivation or an awakening of values, but I do know this:
I’m trying to figure out the right reason to do things.
All guts no glory.
The reason why you choose to do something is important.
The more selfish the reason, the more likely I think you are to be unhappy when you reach your desired outcome. That’s why it’s important to consider the motivation for why you’re doing something.
In times when you’re struggling, you need to remember the reasons why you’ve started something.
If you’re doing something you love, for example, you’re going to have to deal with a lot of obstacles. I know this from personal experience.
People are going to try to hustle you. You’re going to have to deal with haters, anxiety, failure, and more. At times, the whole process is going to suck. It’s not always going to seem “worth it”.
It’s in times like those that shallow sources of motivation will crumble. If you’re doing something for a dumb reason, you won’t last through the tough times. It’s not about being tough, it’s about having a strong “Why?”.
This is a fundamental key to getting what you want out of life.
The problem is that getting what you want out of life is not really what you want out of life.
So how do you “get what you want”?
This is the wrong question, but I also think it’s one of those questions that most people spend way too much time worrying about.
We’re all obsessed with trying to make our lives as perfect as possible. With trying to achieve the goals that we have because we saw them on social media or on TV or were sold on a commercial. We want to get what we want because that’s what we want.
Right?
Yes, but only if you never think deeply about why you’re doing what you’re doing.
This is something I’ve struggled with in the last 6 months.
One thing that I think helps clear up issues of motivation is to reevaluate your specific desires. Evaluate the relationship between your desires and your values.
Only after you have done this should you think about the way you want to actualize these desires and values in the world.
Why do you want the want the things that you want? Why do you do the things that you do?
The answers to these questions should hopefully, in some way, reflect your core values. If you only have desires but no values, you don’t have any control over your life. Your desires control how you live, and you’ll do whatever you need to satisfy them.
In today’s world, you can satisfy pretty much any desire with the clicks of a few buttons.
But is that really “living”?
I think that we were meant to struggle a bit more to get the things that we want and need.
Closing Thoughts
Part of this short article has been to help me analyze what I see from my peers, and part has been an effort to help me reconsider my own values.
To ask myself the hard question of if I am living in accordance with my own values.
It’s not an easy question and it doesn’t have an easy answer, and it’s also not a question you can ask yourself once and be done with. You must constantly be thinking about how your actions are related to your values.
We live in a world today where so much of our experience is customizable. You can opt-in or out of anything at any time. You can unfollow things don’t like and follow things you do. You can choose the books you read, the things you do, and the way you live.
If you get good at lifestyle design, you can pretty much design your entire life.
It begs the question — why would you do anything that goes against your values? Why would you not choose to have the strongest values possible? Why would you choose to play the game at a low level when the higher levels have never been more accessible?
Live in accordance with your values.
It’s the only thing that will keep you sane.
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