Who knew it would be so easy? People have been trying to motivate me all my life. I’ve been trying to motivate myself all my life. With varying degrees of success. Sometimes I’m super-motivated, and those times it’s easy to do whatever it is I’m supposed to be getting on with. But other times, I couldn’t care less, and becoming motivated is a distinctly uphill battle.
Anything that involves routine, or commitment falls into the least motivated camp for me. My friend Bill, who knows this about me, found it hilarious when I signed a three year training contract with a bank, and was gobsmacked when I not only made it through the three years, but stayed for an additional eleven! To be fair I should have drawn a line under the original three, but you live and learn.
The employment anomaly aside, I generally shun anything that depends upon me doing the same thing day after day after day. So it was with some trepidation that I signed up for Lotte Lane’s ‘Come Blog With Me’ Challenge, which ran for 28 days, earlier this year. I knew I needed something to kick my butt out of my blogging stupor, but could I really blog for 28 days straight?
The first few days were easy, fun even. But towards the end of the first week, I was beginning to wonder if I could keep it up. But then Fate stepped in and dealt a hand that would ensure I didn’t miss a day. Lotte asked if anyone would like a Star Chart to mark their progress. She’d complete it on our behalf every week, a star for each day we’d blogged, and send it to us at the end of the Challenge. What?!?!?! Suddenly the doubt was wiped from my mind. There was no way in hell I was going to miss a day! An incomplete Star Chart!? No way was I letting that happen!! One day I posted my blog just before midnight. Another day I was clicking publish as I ran out the door on the way to dinner. NOTHING was going to stop me publishing a blog post. Not even a grumpy husband.
So it turns out, that if you want me to do something repetitive, the best thing is to offer me a star chart. Although I will warn you, it won’t work for domestic chores 😉