Lacking Motivation? Expand Your "Why"

This is something I've struggled with personally for a long time.

A few years ago, the last time I worked for someone else other than myself, I grew to hate my job so much that I worked on my business endlessly.

• I used a "park and ride" to get to work, so I could work on my business while commuting.
• I also worked on the way home, after a long day at work.
• Then I'd get home and finish up my work, usually taking 1-2 hours.
• And I'd frequently spend the majority of my weekends working as well.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this was healthy. But I frequently cite this as an example when talking to my referrals here at WA, and up until last week, it's probably the hardest I've ever worked in my life.

I was working my a$$ off because I hated every minute of my life while I was at that job, and I didn't care if my spare time was 100% consumed - I just wanted to enjoy my life again.

After several months of this, I was finally making enough to "break free" and work on my internet business full-time, and it was a scary process. Not just because I'd taken the "leap" with no idea whether I'd fall or fly, but because after those exhilarating first few days, the excitement and inspiration just... died.

It was gone, and it's not that my business felt like a "chore". I just enjoyed having full run of my life so much that I severely lacked discipline.

This has been a constant struggle for the past several years, although I've gradually gotten better (but still have a lot of room to grow).

Expand Your "Why"

I started this year with some really ambitious goals, and I knew I needed a bigger "why". I had no idea where to find it or how I'd get there, but I knew I'd need a huge motivator to keep pushing for growth.

Last week, I found a "why" big enough to drive me. For the first time in years, I'm working just as hard as I did when I hated my job, but with a much healthier attitude because I love what I do.

(rowing my wife down the Vltava River in Prague)

My wife and I recently decided that, due to the portability of my internet business and how much it's grown, we'd move to Europe for 2-3 years before we have kids. We visited for a month last July (also only possible because affiliate marketing businesses travel so well) and fell in love, but one month wasn't remotely long enough to see everything we wanted to see.

I have no doubt that 2-3 years won't be long enough either, but at least we'll see a lot more before we settle down and start having kids (although I completely understand this is 100% achievable with kids too, just a little bit trickier).

I now wake up every day invigorated and excited to get to work. We still have 14 months until we're moving (thank goodness because there's so much to do), but I frequently have butterflies in my stomach due to the excitement that this adventure brings me. Every day feels like the trip is right around the corner, inching towards me with every minute I squander.

Feeling Stuck? Evaluate Your "Why?"

I know it can sometimes be hard to work on our businesses, whether we're already profitable or not, or whether we work on them part-time or full-time. I can't count on my fingers and toes how many times I've felt "stuck", and how much I wish I could go back in time and get those moments back now that I feel like I've "cracked the code".

If you're there, or if you find yourself there sometime in the future, challenge yourself with a bigger "why". You don't need to know every step of how you're going to achieve it at this stage - you can plot your course later.

It goes without saying that money doesn't buy happiness, and studies show that most of the time, material things don't buy us anything but temporary happiness. But there are plenty of experiences on this planet that will change you entirely, whether it's sailing around the world, backpacking across Europe or Asia, or living in the most beautiful place you've ever visited.

(my favorite picture from our time in Europe last year - taken outside of Amsterdam while on a bike ride to Dugerdam)

Paint a picture of your life that makes you want to jump out of bed every morning. If you find it wearing off shortly after you've set it, or you feel complacent after achieving it, you likely just need to revisit and adjust your "why".

"Die Empty"

I'm currently reading a book by Todd Henry called "Die Empty" that has been very helpful in planning the steps to get me to the goals I'm aiming to achieve before we move. I highly, highly recommend it if you're reading this post and going, "That's all fine and dandy, Ian, but HOW?!"

That's it from me this month ;) For all of my referrals here at WA - I'm always around for you if you need me, and I catch up with comments/emails here at least once a day.

Best of luck to everyone reading this as you seek to expand your "why", and I'll see you in another blog post towards the end of June!