By
Emeroy Bernardo
How do you stay motivated? This is something I asked myself the minute I stepped out of work today.
I read the other day that motivation is like a bath, we need it every day.
Now that I think of it, I personally find it challenging to constantly stay motivated throughout the daily life I live.
I don't live a life of complete spontaneity nor is it anywhere a bore. I fortunately (or unfortunately) have a job with a company which I got by choice, not by desperate means of makin an income, but it is nice
to have work. I'm a dancer instructor at an amazing studio and am fortunate to have friernds I grew up with teaching there as well. I'm apart of one of the dopest and most giving dance companies in LA. And
I'm fortunate enough to be a director of both FamBiz and Teen Groov. How is it that one can still face complacency through all this? The fact that I do it daily? The fact that it IS PART of my daily grind?
Or have I just burnt myself out through all of it?
I was thinking about what I told fambiz and teen groov on our last rehearsals. It was regarding fighting complacency in the middle of the season. We had just gotten off our high from a great performance at
Urban street jam, and it was on to the next one and back onto the grind. The difference between The Road to World of Dance and The Road to Urban Street Jam was that we were working with familiar material, we were only making changes to certain parts of the routine.
Being that most everyone practically has knowledge of the routine already, there's no need of playing catch up. People tend to get comfortable; and it's when you get comfortable your worst work comes out. You lose your edge, you’re not as sharp compared to the first time you were getting into it.
What I told them was this, think of your daily routine and everything you do whether you’re a student or you’re employed. It may be exciting first few times around. You’re still getting used to the flow of things, making sure that you do things right the first time.
Now forward it to a few months from now, that new job or class is no longer new, it becomes routine. And it can become mundane and boring. Because we go in already having the thought that we know what we’re doing, which for the most part is true.
During this period is when I personally think beginner's mind and mindfulness can come into play quite effectively, which can also help develop your sense of urgency or focus.
Beginner's mind = Being in the moment – I may have mentioned this a few times in posts before. But it seems to have a valuable role in a lot of things I learn, and is one of my personal motivating factors.
"I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent." –John Wooden
Everything we do in life we always start from the beginning not knowing a thing about it. It’s like a child seeing the world for the first time. They’re always finding something new that fascinates them.
It’s the same thing when something new is added to our daily lives. It’s different, it brings a new flavor. Even though this world or routine we may do may seem like nothing changes. We may even sometimes think to ourselves “same old same old.”
The fact is this everything in this world is constantly changing, and so are we, it may not be something drastic, but it’s there. The best way to truly notice them is to silence the chatter in your mind and be in the moment and experience what is around you. You’ll then come to find that even though you may have been here before, it’ll feel like you’re looking at it for the first time.
Think of it as eating your favorite dish for the millionth time. You’re getting tired of the same taste, but add a new spice to it, it brings it a new flavor, and it would be as if you’re eating that dish for the very first time.
Work with a sense of urgency - “Be quick, but don’t rush.”
Working quickly means taking action with clear focus in what must be done. Being in a rush means taking action with a head clouded with emotion.
Another one of my personal driving factors is the fact that I may die someday; It maybe tomorrow, next month, or the next minute. Now a person can take it as either something that can bring them down, or motivate them. I chose the latter.
Living in a fast paced society, when it comes to getting things done, speed and efficiency is key.
We all have goals we want to achieve. Once you’ve embraced the beginners mind, you’ve allowed yourself to not be set in just one way of doing things, but allowed yourself to find many new ways of doing things whether it works out or not.
You fully engage yourself in the process of what you’re trying to achieve. This can be moments of when we’re so caught up in the moment we lose track of time. Yet during that time we’ve moved forward towards our goals and have evolved in the process.
Looking back at when I first started this post, which was about an hour an a half ago, it seems like I’ve answered my own question. It may be a small list of motivating factors, buy it doesn’t take a lot to start a fire, all it needs is a spark.
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