Excerpt from Alden's writings!
Have there been times when, while trying to achieve a certain path, job or field, you felt down, lost energy, or discouraged? Well, we are all the same.
But through times like that, I realized that no one can stay motivated forever, even the people you admire the most. The only difference is that they know how to keep themselves from falling completely.
There were also mornings when Alden woke up with a blank space, not hating his job, nor being angry with anyone. He simply did not want to do anything. Even putting on his shoes to go out for a few laps did not have enough energy to do such a simple thing. And he sighed, not loudly, not negatively.
In the past, at times like that, I would look for inspiration, look up motivational videos, and reread some quotes. But not anymore, now I just sit down at the table. Turn on the computer, do some small things, just small things. Review some unfinished work, read just one page of a book, type a few lines of unfinished ideas, review an unfinished article... not to finish those things, but simply to continue, to do something.
Because I still think: “Motivation does not come first, action comes first. When you do a small thing first, it will create momentum, then motivation will come by itself.”
Someone famous once said, I don’t remember exactly, but the gist of it was something like this: “Don’t wait for inspiration to act. Act to create inspiration.” It sounds logical. But when you’ve ever sat still in the middle of an uncertain day, you’ll understand: “To stay motivated, sometimes you don’t need anything too big. Just don’t sit still.”
There is one thing I realized after such times: "Even a small action can stop a big negative thought."
Not all actions lead to success. But every action at the right time can save you from a deep slide. So if one day you feel tired, feel confused, it's okay. You don't need to do anything big, you don't need to get back on track, you just need to start with a very small thing, not to prove or do anything big, but just to let it keep you on the path you are going. When you read 1 page of a book, you will tend to read 2 pages, read 2 pages and then you will tend to read 5 pages, then 10 pages... so if you don't have the motivation to read a book, just read 1 page. Writing an article seems to take time, why don't you just try writing the title and then slowly think about it...
For me, motivation is not a source of energy that falls from the sky, but a small stream that I have to actively water every day.
Alden Nguyen
