The False Promise of Motivation: Why It's Time to Rethink Our Approach to Success
Hello to all friends, colleagues, and all the weekend developers!
Last week, I talked about the learnings from mother nature about change. If you have missed that, here’s the article:
Today, I will recount a story.
Years ago in college, my friend and I used to study together for exams. My friend would recount his ups and downs as a student.
He mentioned being a good student in his early years, but then there were a couple of dark years when he lost motivation to study. He would talk about those years and what happened during those dark years.
One day, he spoke about a table in the place where he used to study. He mentioned that the table was his special place, where he could study and focus. But then, something happened.
The table was moved from that place, and he attributed his lack of motivation to that event.
I thought it was ridiculous to blame a table being moved for someone’s lack of motivation, right?
But after reading BJ Fogg's book "Tiny Habits," I understood why.
The movement of his study table did play a part in his losing his motivation to study, but it was not the sole cause of what killed his motivation.
What killed his motivation was the breaking of the system for his study.
He did not know then that he had a routine, a system that enabled his success. When the system was taken apart, he did not know what to do.
Without realizing it, he had that system and now, after years of using that system, he was left without one.
He was not relying on motivation, and so when the system was broken, he went seeking motivation, which was never there to move him into action.
Motivation is an unreliable ally.
Nature does not need motivation. Nature follows a system, which is defined by rules, some of which we cannot comprehend.
So, if you want to be successful, don't rely on motivation alone.
Instead, focus on building a system that works for you and stick to it, regardless of how motivated or uninspired you may feel.
Fogg Behavior Model (FBM)
The Fogg Behavior Model (FBM), created by Dr. BJ Fogg, is a powerful tool for understanding and designing user behavior.
It states that for a behavior to occur, three elements must converge: motivation, ability, and a prompt.
The basic premise is if the task that you have given yourself is very easy to do, you need very little motivation for it.
So how can you make the task easy to do? It is by breaking down the complex task into the smallest bit that is possible.
Easy Tasks For Weekend Developers
Open the IDE on the laptop and sit there for 20 minutes without doing anything else
Update a ReadMe of the project you are working on
Write one unit test case
Write down possible future features
Review your last commit
Weekend Reads
Introduction to Kata Coding - Learn about Kata coding to improve your coding skills
Productivity and Well-being: A summary of what works.: A useful article for all developers on how to be productive and healthy
The Basics of Java Generics: Learn one of the most powerful features of Java to code like a pro
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Your story got me thinking about how I should improve my systematic process of writing. Thanks for the article.