The Mind Over Finger Podcast - 157 Motivation: How to Get It & How to Keep It

Episode Date: February 3, 2023

In this episode, I explain how the motivation cycle works and how you can create motivation on purpose any time you want. Reflection - Here are questions to increase your awareness of the topic I cover in the episode: What is my long-term goal? What actions do I want to take to move towards my goal today? What feeling would fuel me and support me in taking action today? What thought can I think and believe to generate that feeling today?   DOWNLOAD THE TRANSCRIPT FROM THIS EPISODE HERE Do you have specific questions for me or my guests you would like answered on the podcast? Share them with me HERE! Join me for FREE on February 17th for the Deep Practice Model Teacher Training Workshop when you join Practicing for Peak Performance! Practicing for Peak Performance: Your Step-by-step Roadmap to Optimal Performance! Get you self-paced program HERE and transform how you perform TODAY!   Mind Over Finger Visit MindOverFinger.com for resources on mindful practice and information on how to work with me. Sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a highly productive mindful practice and to get the transcripts of the Mind Over Finger Podcast episodes delivered to your inbox. Join the Join the Mind Over Finger Community  for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians. www.mindoverfinger.com https://www.facebook.com/mindoverfinger/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/mindoverfinger https://www.instagram.com/mindoverfinger/   THANK YOU: Most sincere thank you to composer Jim Stephenson who graciously provided the show's musical theme:  Concerto #1 for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra – Movement 2: Allegro con Brio, performed by Jeffrey Work, trumpet, and the Lake Forest Symphony, conducted by Jim Stephenson. A HUGE thank you to my fantastic producer, Bella Kelly, who makes this podcast as pleasant to listen to as possible for you!

You're listening to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, episode number 157. Welcome to the Mind Over Finger Podcast, discussions on mindful music making, efficient practice, optimal performance, and building a purposeful life and fulfilling career. I'm your host, violinist and certified performance and life coach for musicians, Dr. René-Paul Gaultier. Hi everyone, I hope you're doing amazingly well today and that you're having a fantastic start of the new year. As you can tell, I took a little bit of time off in January to get some rest and get geared up for the months ahead. That was wonderful and I feel ready and excited to get back

behind the mic. So here we are, finding ourselves in February. And for this first episode of 2023, I wanted to talk about motivation. January is for many of us so exciting, so full of possibilities. Some of us tackle brand new resolutions. We get really excited about big projects and big dreams we have for the year. But by February, we often get hit by the weight of reality and we lose that momentum. Life has this way of getting in the way. The old habits creep back in and it's easy to slip back into those familiar routines. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that unless Those habits and those routines are not serving you and are not supporting you towards the goals you have. So what better time to talk about motivation than for the first episode of 2023?

First, let me ask you this question. How is your motivation? If it's good, congratulations, you're going to get a lot of this episode, including the recipe to keep it going throughout the year. And if it's deflated, I have what you need to get the ball rolling again. Also, totally okay to not be motivated right now and not wanting to be. That's a beautiful place. I think it's still going to be interesting for you to check out this process. So regardless of where you are on the spectrum of motivation right now, this episode is going to bring you something valuable. Now, I've already released a podcast on the topic of motivation, episode 71, and I invite you to listen to it because it does have a lot of great information and suggestions to infuse more

motivation in your life today. I stand behind everything I said in this episode, but since I created it, I went deep into training, and I got certified as a life coach. And I have a new understanding of how that process of motivation, that cycle of motivation works. So today, I want to add these nuances to help you understand all the mechanism behind motivation. So you can go beyond tips and tricks and hacks so you can get a real understanding of what truly motivates you and you don't have to force yourself into action or coerce yourself into building new habits. You know me, I'm always about alignment over unnecessary effort and we want that alignment to come from a deep understanding and respect of ourselves. Motivation is such an interesting

topic. I think many of us could say that we want more of it. We look at other people that look so motivated and we're wishing we could have that. We see things like, I wish I was motivated. I just can't get myself motivated. We feel like it's mysterious and elusive and out of our control. We're not really sure how it works, why it strikes and why it fizzles. So today I want to explain that process to you and show you a way to capture motivation on purpose when you want it. You're not at the mercy of motivation. You are the creator of motivation. In episode 71, I talked about how motivation comes from action. And that's still true, technically. But the mechanism, the process here is a little bit more nuanced than that. There are more layers to it.

And when you see how it really works, I think it's going to blow your mind. I hope this episode can help you understand how that cycle works for you and show you how to create motivation today and keep it going all year. In episode 153, 154, and 155, I introduced the self-coaching model as created by my coach and teacher, Brooke Castillo. It's an amazing, life-changing tool. So if you have not listened to these episodes, make sure to add them to your playlist next. In those episodes, I showed you how all the results we create in our lives come from actions that are fueled by feelings, which are created by thoughts. So if we follow this model, we see that motivation, the feeling of motivation is created by a thought we're having. I'm going to try to explain it here

as clearly as I can. And you can hop to my YouTube channel where I have a video for you where I show you what I'm going to explain right now. So the feeling of motivation is created at the source by a thought you're having. For example, you might be thinking, this is the year where I'm going to learn all six Bach sonatas and partitas. That thought just motivates you. You can feel it. You just know it's going to happen. You're going to be disciplined. You're filled with hope. So that's the stage where hope and motivation coexist and fuel each other. You know what I'm talking about, right? You've been there. Everything is possible, or so you thought. And that's my point. You think everything is possible, so you're motivated. So you start taking action. You plan,

you make schedules, you start practicing, and those actions are creating results. The issue is that we start to have thoughts about those results, and those thoughts create new feelings. You still following? So you're thinking everything is possible. You feel motivated. You're taking action and those actions create results. Those results are now part of your new circumstance and they are the beginning of new models. So let's say you had this plan of learning three movements of the first sonata over two weeks, but some things happen and got in the way. It always does, right? And you're not quite on track with your plan. And at the end of the first couple of weeks, you've learned one movement instead of three. What you think about this result

will create a new feeling that will either fuel your motivation or smother it. This is really important. Really hear me. What you think about this result will boost or shut down your motivation. If you're thinking things like, okay, no big deal. I'm still figuring out how to go with this new schedule. I have some progress. I see some of the tweaks I can make. I see different approaches I could try. This is a great challenge. It's going to feel so wonderful when I've completed it. Obstacles are going to show up for sure. That's to be expected. I've got this. It's a learning experience, etc. If you're thinking those things, you will still feel that motivation. You will feel determined. You will keep taking action. You're going to tweak your plan. You're going to look

for other strategies. You're going to adapt. You're going to get back in the practice room and continue to progress towards your goal. And that will keep fueling that cycle of motivation. So you see, in episode 71, when I said that motivation comes from actions, it's true, but it's only part of the mechanism. The motivation you're feeling now is because of the thoughts you're having about the results you got from past actions. And isn't that wonderful news? Understanding this process is so empowering for me. You're not at the mercy of a random feeling that you never know when and how it's going to show up. You now know how it's created. You can generate that feeling anytime you want with your thoughts. I'll explain how that works

in the second. First, let's look at a different scenario. We're going to use the same circumstance. So your starting model was that you were feeling motivated because you were thinking everything was possible. For sure, I can learn the six sonatas and partitas. So you took some actions and the results of those actions were that you learned one movement instead of the three you had originally planned for for the first couple of weeks. That is now your new circumstance. What do you think is going to happen if your thoughts about those results sound like, that's not good enough. I have failed. You see, one more time, I'm not doing what I said I would do. I was foolish to think I could do this. I'm not good enough. I can't figure it out. It's too hard. I can't do this. What kind

of feelings would come from thinking that? For me, I would feel completely discouraged, overwhelmed, disappointed. Quite the opposite from motivation, right? Now, what actions would you take from feeling overwhelmed, discouraged, or disappointed? I would probably just abandon the whole project. Those thoughts and the feelings they generate would completely destroy my motivation. Isn't that fascinating? We do create our realities with our thoughts. I find that super exciting. So let me recap one more time how that process works. And then I will offer a suggestion on what you can do next to fuel your motivation, to fuel your determination, your stick-to-it-ness on purpose. At the beginning, your motivation for a particular project will come from a thought

you're having about it. It could be that you're thinking how great it's going to be once you reach it. You believe it's possible. You think it's going to be fun. There's a thought that you believe and that makes you feel motivated. From feeling motivated, you take actions. Those actions will create results. Next, it's what you think about those results that will either continue the cycle of motivation or interrupt it. Going back to episode 153, 154, and 155, all our thoughts and feelings are inherently valid. Thoughts and feelings come to us incessantly because we're humans and that's what humans do. So never shame yourself for having negative thoughts over some results you got. Once you've allowed all these thoughts and feelings,

and I mean all of them, once you've allowed them, honored them, and you gave them some space, and you gave yourself some grace and some love and you've processed those emotions, this is where you can set the intention to decide what you want to think about your current circumstance. If you want to feel motivated, what could you think and believe that would help you feel motivated? What could you think that would serve you?

and maybe you want to take action from a completely different feeling what is that feeling excitement interest curiosity how do you want to feel and what can you think that would help you feel this way and i guarantee you if you take the time to do this reflection you will come up with some powerful thoughts. And when you do, please share them with us. Share all the good insight you have. Here are a few that help me when I'm looking for a little boost in motivation. I can figure this out. Obstacles are the way they make me learn better. If I keep taking actions, I will get to my goal. I don't have to do it all at once. All I need is to improve a little bit every day. And with each note, I get better. You get the idea. Now, going

back to episode 71, there are for sure some little strategies that can help with motivation. I mentioned setting an exciting goal, finding ways to make the work interesting and enjoyable for yourself, keeping things meaningful for yourself, having a plan and schedule that works for you and fits your needs, enlisting accountability, and rewarding yourself through various stages of the process. All of these can help for sure. You can draw inspiration and excitement from outside of yourself, but the real motivation will come from within. Please know that the feelings of motivation, of excitement towards your goals, of determination to take action are accessible to you at any time if you take the time to observe your thinking and intentionally choose the thoughts

that serve you right now. And I'm not talking about fake positivity here that will never work. I'm talking about things you can believe right now. Thoughts that resonate as true for you. Try some of these thoughts for size and experiment and see how they make you feel and what happens when you keep those thoughts in mind. And then let me know how that works for you. So try this this week. Think about a goal you're pursuing and gain clarity on exactly what the end result will look like

and your plan to execute it. Reflect on the feeling you want to experience to fuel your actions towards this goal. and then create a list of thoughts that will help you generate this feeling and use these powerful questions to help you with your reflection. What is my long-term goal? What actions do I want to take to move towards my goal today? What feeling would fuel me and support me in taking action today?

what thought can i think and believe to generate that feeling today i'm hoping and i'm pretty sure actually that your answers to these questions will spark motivation for you so there you have it i have some homework for you make sure to catch episodes 71 153 154 and 155 you can also hop over to YouTube where I have a video where I build those models for you. So if you're like me and a little visual construct helps, you'll find that there. Set aside some time to create those models on paper for yourself. And don't forget to send me a DM or send me an email via my website or comment on social media to let me know what came up for you. And speaking of social media, if this episode was helpful in any way share with anyone you think could benefit from it

and post a screenshot of the episode and tag me as always the link to catch the transcript of this episode is in the show notes and i have links to the episodes i mentioned earlier in there for you as well all right my dear friends much love going your way i send you my best wishes for a 2023 that is filled with peace, love, health, motivation, and fulfillment. À bientôt. Thank you guys so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Mind Over Finger podcast. If this content was helpful for you, please share with everyone you think could benefit from it. Take a screenshot, share on social media and tag me. I'm mind over finger everywhere. So

reach out, send me a DM and let me know how this content helped you. Let's keep the conversation going. As always, I have all the information related to this episode in the show notes. You can find them via your podcast app or by visiting mindoverfinger.com, where you can also find more free resources on efficient practice and performance preparation, links to sign up to my free workshops, and information on how to work with me. Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter to receive your free guide to a productive mindful practice, transcripts from the Mind Over Finger podcast episodes delivered to your inbox every week, and more. also join the mind over finger facebook community my private group for access to my live videos and to exchange with a community of like-minded musicians so make sure you're subscribed to the podcast and if you have specific questions for me or my guests that you would like answered in an episode share them with me using the link in the show notes or send me a dm on instagram

or Facebook. That's it for today. Again, thank you and à bientôt.