Willingness Leads to Action
Cultivate Willingness: Say ‘Yes’ Inwardly
Brief Recap:
LAST TIME we learned the important principle:
MOTIVATION COMES AFTER ACTION AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND: Click HERE for more
Key Points:
Action-> Motivation
Don’t wait until feeling motivated to take action…you may wait forever.
Benefits of taking action when not feeling motivated:
Feel good.
More likely to do the action [that led to feeling good] in the future.
Built tenacity and willpower.
willingness leads to action
This time we’ll build on the principle:
Action-> Motivation
When lacking motivation, remember action leads to motivation (not vice versa).
But…
Starting to act is often the hardest part. At these times, remember:
willingness leads to action.
Accept [inwardly turn towards your present circumstances] and you’re unstuck.
It’s not anxiety, or lack of confidence, or fill-in-the-blank-any-difficult-thought-or-feeling that is the problem. The problem is how you are relating to those difficult thoughts and feelings.
example 1: Panic Attacks
Anxiety by itself does not cause panic attacks. Panic attacks are created when one relates to initial anxious thoughts and feelings in a “get-the-hell-away-from-me”, “I-can’t-stand-it” manner.
Like the reverb effect from a pair of speakers, Anxiety over anxiety quickly spirals from a healthy level to intense and unbearable.
example 2: performance anxiety transformed
What’s an effective way to deal with performance anxiety? Lets look at a common scenario:
The problem:
A swimmer gets nervous before a big race.
During her race, the swimmer “gets hooked” on the butterflies in her stomach and tunnel vision sensations.
Her anxiety over anxiety spirals and she performs poorly in the race.
The Solution:
The swimmer learns that her mind, trying to keep her safe, is telling her “anxiety is bad; you have to get rid of it”.
Through practice, she learns to relate differently to her pre-race-jitters.
The pre-race jitters still come (after all, we can’t delete thoughts or feelings) but now, swimmer girl makes room for the butterflies and her increased alertness.
The pre-race jitters are still uncomfortable but she relates to them as welcome assistants in prepping her body to perform at a high level and do amazing things.
WILLINGNESS-> Action-> Motivation
Application:
Build up those willingness muscles!
My friends,
When it’s hard to get going, cultivate willingness to do what matters.
Charles
