Which Comes First: Motivation or Action?

How many times have you wanted to begin a project and just felt you didn’t have enough interest or energy?  How about all the jobs you actually started yet never finished?  How many books have you begun reading, just never got around to ending?

Sometimes this is career related and gets measured as part of your overall professional performance.  Other times it’s something personal, like calling an old friend to stay in touch.  As Christians this can often apply to God’s word…getting into the Bible and refreshing our scriptural connection to the divine.  We want to, yet inspiration wanes.

1. Why is it so hard to get up the enthusiasm for some activities while others seem effortless?
2. How can I get “it” done when I really don’t feel like doing it?
3. Do I wait for motivation or force myself through it?

The truth is we are shaped by what we do, not by what we hope to do.  We are in a constant state of becoming.   The choices we make and the actions we take ultimately define us.  How many authors never got around to writing?  How many athletes don’t practice their sport?  How many bakers just don’t bake very much?  The more we do, the more we become what we are doing.

Whether motivation or action comes first is an age-old debate.  Many believe a person must first be motivated to a thing before he can do a thing.  Others believe the act of doing creates the motivation to continue doing.  There is ample supporting evidence to keep both sides happily debating for hours.

The better question is this:  What comes first in YOUR life, motivation or action?

The answer to this question will bring more than just a discussion to bear.  When you know what works for YOU, you will work it!  And the time you invest sorting out the answer, will create a doer and not just a hoper.

1. What does it take for YOU to get a specific thing done?
2. What gets YOU over the procrastination hump?
3. What helps YOU get excited about work that isn’t always that exciting?

Compare the questions at the top of this segment with the questions at the bottom of this segment.  Can you tell the difference?

The top questions all come from a state of doubt, as if the task were too hard to complete.  They are focused on I can’t.  The bottom questions come from a state of certainty, as if the answer were there and only required searching.  They are focused on I will.

Which comes first for you, motivation or action?

Shawn Sommerkamp is a motivational speaker and Executive Coach with 20+ years of Fortune 100 leadership experience.  He founded Motivationeer™ to coach Christian professionals how to bring the power of Christ’s word, as the foundation of career success, into corporate and small business America.