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The Big Lie

I was a good student in school. I was 7th in my graduating class in high school and had a 3.77 GPA. When I returned to college in my late forties, I graduated with a 3.96. My sister, the RN/health blogger, also got good grades, although I cannot say what her class rank was. Now, I don’t say this to brag on either behalf but only to lay the groundwork to illustrate a point. I remember having a discussion with said sister about our grades, and our motivations for our obsession over that elusive letter “A” were different. She got good grades so she could play volleyball (another subject for another blogpost). I got good grades because I WANTED them.

There are different types of motivation. In the story of our high school transcript histories, my sister’s motivation is known as extrinsic, meaning it comes from an external reward. Mine would be classified as intrinsic, coming from within. Too many of us think we need to wait for motivation to hit us before we do something, and that is the gigantic farce that has been thrust upon us, thus the title of this post. The best motivation is one that comes from inside.

But sometimes, it seems nigh impossible to conjure up what we need to get us to do what we should do, regardless of how good it is for us. Kingsford gives us three steps to help us along.

  1. Activation – the behavior you’re going to pursue (like pay off the smallest credit card debt)
  2. Intensity – what’s required to make that happen (i.e., stop adding to my debt and pay extra on it)
  3. Persistence – what is necessary to keep that going (cut up the credit card and create a budget)

In January of 2020, I did a series of blog posts to show how to create a budget and move forward with eliminating debt. Now would be a great time to review some of those. This is a process and you will need to implement some practices along the way that will help you keep on task. Kingsford suggests a few positive actions that can help. Focus on small steps. Praise efforts, not progress. Assess your actions and fine-tune things as you go. Get an accountability partner.

Don’t wait to GET motivated. Just do it. Ooohhh…can I say that?

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