Is it worth it?
When I started out, I found myself asking myself this question too often. My confidence wasn’t what it is now.
Was it worth it to start a blog and put in that much effort? Is all of the time I am spending on Twitter amounting to anything? Does my age put me at a disadvantage?
The transition from hobby to business was stressful in the short-term. In the long-term, it was a great decision.
Regardless of what I got discouraged about, I knew it was essential to shake off the discouragement as quickly as possible.
It’s easier said than done. But the doing part isn’t as hard as most people think. It usually takes me 5-10 minutes to shake off any discouragement.
I’m not a superhuman. I just know my ideal response to discouragement. Creating responses to challenges makes it easier for you to conquer those challenges.
Once I shake off the discouragement, I go back to my work feeling more reinvigorated than ever.
The way I respond to any type of discouragement can be replicated by any individual. Here’s my three step process:
#1: Listen To Motivational Songs
Music plays a big role in our culture. It’s also played a big role in cultures that existed thousands of years before our current culture.
One truth about music is that some of the songs we listen to impact the way we feel. Some songs automatically make us feel happy while other songs automatically make us feel sad.
Listen to the songs that make you feel motivated. Put an entire playlist together if you have to. The right songs can give you enough motivation for you to shake off the discouragement.
Certain songs are guaranteed to motivate you based on the way you interpret them. These are the songs you need to listen to the most.
There is one song that I always listen to when I feel discouraged. The song I choose to listen to doesn’t matter for the purposes of this blog post (but I promise it’s clean).
The way I interpret the song may be different from how you would interpret the song, so you may not get as motivated by it.
Anyway, there is a song you’ve heard for years that holds a deep meaning in your heart. That’s the song you need to listen to…not the song that I listen to.
#2: Take Some Type Of Action
Every type of motivation you receive is just temporary motivation. It eventually fades away and must then be replaced with another form of motivation.
Idle around after listening to the song, and then that song loses its effectiveness.
Listening to the song is meant to provide you with motivation to take action. Regardless of how significant or minuscule your action looks, take action.
If you are in the middle of writing a book, and you take a break to listen to your favorite song, make it a point to write more content for your book.
Regardless of whether the song motivates you to write an extra 500 words or an extra 5,000 words, you need to take some form of action.
Taking a small action will make you feel better about the task ahead of you. Back when I would get discouraged from doing videos, I would listen to a motivational song.
Then I would go back to creating videos. Each time I listened to the motivational song, I made more progress.
#3: Plan For Next Time
You’ll have to write more words for that book the following day. You will have to put in the work tomorrow just as you did today.
At this stage of the three step process, your motivation is at a high point. When your motivation is at a high point, you do everything you can while your motivation is at its high point.
After I take some type of action, I plan out how I will take my next action. The night before, I will always identify what I must do the following day.
That way, I’m not thinking about what I must do. I already know what I must do.
The more prepared you are for what lay ahead, the more motivated you will feel to tackle the big challenges. Then, discouragement gets washed away.
Continue To Believe
This three step process helps you shake off discouragement. We get discouraged during challenging situations. This discouragement happens to be a part of the hero’s cycle.
It’s natural to feel discouraged in the middle of a challenge. The people we admire felt discouraged at some point in their lives.
They wondered if what they were doing was worth it. They wondered if they could fulfill their dreams. They wondered if they could.
It turns out they could. And we can. The amount of belief you have for yourself determines how far you go in life.
We are all like Ferraris. We have potential to do great things in our lives. Not believing in yourself is like hoping the Ferrari with an empty tank will provide an epic driving experience.
The Ferrari can provide an epic driving experience. Without any gas, it’s no better than a used car from the 1990s.
Choose to believe in yourself throughout your journey. You’ll be glad you did.
In Conclusion
Discouragement hinders our progress. It makes us doubt and wonder if what we are doing is worth the effort.
The way to beat discouragement is with overwhelming motivation. Motivation isn’t challenging to acquire. Listening to the right songs is a quick way to get an instant boost in motivation.
With that instant boost in motivation, you can then take more action and plan out how you will take even more action in the future.
Motivation will take you far, but motivation isn’t permanent. We must motivate ourselves throughout the day (and often in the simplest ways imaginable) to be our best.
What are your thoughts about this three step process? Do you have any other tips to beat discouragement? Sound off in the comments section below.
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