I wrote in my first post that I have been drowning in an ocean of procrastination. So for at least half an hour a day, I read, listen or watch one talk from authors, motivational speakers, entrepreneurs and many more to help me keep to my goals in general.
From Evan Carmichael, to Gary Vaynerchuk, to Jordan Peterson, to Gaur Gopal Das. Each one, as well as others, have taught me something different, words that I felt I needed to hear at a given time to give me encouragement, like starting a project that I have been thinking about for a while such as this blog.
Mel Robbins
All these people, all their rules, all their lessons have been an amazing contribution when it came to achieving things that I never thought were possible. My first novel is a testament to this.
At times, I also found motivation from numerous sources; from music and art, to fictional characters in movies, television and books. I myself am a fan of Steve Rogers and Tony Starks from the Marvel Cinematic Universe for their leadership and heroism, and Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender for his wisdom and sense of humour.
However writing is hard.
So I need to find motivation from all sorts of places and some of my strongest motivators came from a place I never expected. A place that comes from the characters of my own writing.
But what makes my characters different to the fictional ones created by others?
Put simply, since I am the one creating them, I honestly feel a little bit ashamed. It is this shame that motivates me. See, while listening to people for encouragement or being inspired by a character created by another is great and will continue to be sources I draw motivation from, I find that when I’ve created a character who pushes against the grain of the norm and fights for what they feel is right despite that it could cost them their lives, a question lingers through my mind.
If this character that I am creating is able to act to fulfil his or her goals, then why can’t I in other aspects of my life as well? It’s no coincidence to me that when I’m writing a scene of a character’s moment to triumph, to rise to the occasion, I find afterwards that I can write for hours. No excuses the character would say. Forget those doubts they would plead. Just keep going.
Just. Take. Action.
Now here are a couple of questions for you readers. Where do you find your motivation? And when you do, what goals are you directing them towards?
Let me know your answers in the comments below, and I’ll see you in the next post.
Photo Credit: Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash
Thoughts Of A Writer 
Hello, Leo. Where do I find motivation? I like to think that I pick my own self up by the bootstraps. However, comma, the actual motivation does not always lead to actual action. I can get motivated, called to action by an incident either personal in nature or professionally or even politically, but I am a pro at finding excuses not to act and that prevails upon my own self worth, increasing the ever-present self-confidence handcuffs. Most of the time I, like you, have found I must just make myself move forward one step at a time. I make like a turtle. Like the turtle, I will never get anywhere unless I stick my neck out.
–Flo
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I’m guilty of making excuses too. Taking action can be hard and even if I plan to do so during the week, it sometimes doesn’t go the way I want, which can be discouraging as well. But like you said with the turtle, there are days when you can take that one step forward. Hopefully that becomes a second step, followed by another. Knowing that it can all add up is how I sometimes find motivation.
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