Now, I am developing a new way of thinking to change our lives. And in the previous article (this article), I mentioned how to stay motivated with my wave theory. So today, I will explain how to increase our motivation.
How to increase our motivation
Sometimes, we want to motivate ourselves. We want to live as energetically as possible. That gives us the power to overcome our problems, such as unexpected troubles, a lot of work, a lack of understanding from others, or taking action without others’ help.
But we often cannot motivate ourselves anymore. We have tried everything that looked like good ideas. If our lives have not improved yet and we don’t have good ideas, we often lose motivation.
In such a situation, my wave theory might work. So today, I will explain how to increase our motivation and find the next opportunity. I will explain it with a surfing example.
Overview of my wave theory
First, I will explain the overview of my wave theory again. In my theory, there are two types of work, as follows:
- Work to change something: To improve our lives. We focus on accepting what is changing.
- Work to keep something: To maintain our current, satisfied situation. We focus on eliminating the factor of change.
If we confuse these goals and ways, we lose our motivation. For example, “keep doing the same thing continuously to change” is usually useless because it is a way to maintain something. Perhaps this is the most frequent factor in losing our motivation.
If we want to change our lives, we focus on the former, accepting what is changing. So let’s explain it with a surfing example.
A surfing example
Let’s assume we are surfing. The waves are our motivation. There are so many up-and-down waves.
We can understand there are two kinds of stability.
- Stability in riding the waves: We change the waves to ride one after another in good timing. So it looks stable in height. Although we need to find the next wave and move with good timing, we can move to another place thanks to the motivation.
- Stability in eliminating the waves: We can ride on the board in a place where there is no wave. It is stable, but we cannot move to another place.
If we want to change our lives, we need to ride the waves. If we eliminate the waves, we will get stability, but we will not be able to move.
Many people make this mistake. The great surfers look stable. And we are used to eliminating the factor of change to maintain our current situation. So we tend to make the mistake of using the same style, even if it is for the opposite goal. Don’t confuse motivation with patience.
Looking at the waves below us
We want to change our lives. In other words, we need to ride waves to get out of our current situation. So, let me explain how we can ride waves.
Now, we assume we are great surfers. We are riding a wave now. At the same time, we are looking for the next wave and the best time to ride it.
In such a situation, we look to the waves below us. It is a wave still less motivated than the wave we are riding now, but it is rapidly growing in our minds. We can expect that such a wave will be the next wave to ride.
For example, when we work energetically, we ride a wave well. At that time, we look for the next wave rapidly growing in our minds. It might be the want to take a rest.
And if we want to keep moving, we need to move to the next wave. So we prepare to go to bed and go to bed at the best time. After we sleep well, we will find ourselves energetic again. So we can begin the work energetically again. In other words, we can ride another high wave.
Don’t compare with higher waves
In other words, we don’t compare ourselves with people in the higher waves. It means envy. “I wish I were in such a high place.” That is not bad, but that perspective never brings us higher.
The energy that brings us higher is the lower wave. It means we look at the negative, inefficient wave at this time. But it is rapidly growing.
And we move to the wave with good timing. That means we give up the current wave and make a little loss because we cannot ride the higher wave than us. We lose height a little. But if the wave grows continuously, it will bring us higher.
“Keep riding the next wave” means we prepare to get off the waves when we are still in good condition. It is often when we are most excited or begin to feel the limit to growing our motivation. If we forget that, we will suddenly lose motivation and fall to the bottom. It is the same as surfing.
We can begin with a tiny wave
So, if we want higher energy, we ride such waves from one to another. We can begin with a tiny wave. Accept the waves of motivation. Accept the mental changes. Don’t deny and kill the mental changes because it means killing the changes, even if it feels like we neglect our goals.
Sometimes, getting off before the peaks is better because we can concentrate on the next wave. We tend to misunderstand that this great lift lasts forever when we are at the top of the waves. That causes a rapid decline in our motivation. If we want to stay motivated and keep moving, it is necessary to keep changing the waves.
And after we find an ideal place to stay, we get off the waves. Then we start our comfortable lives. Perhaps we don’t need high energy in such a comfortable place.
Sometimes, we find that riding the waves itself is fun because it is an exciting experience. It is also a great life. We can balance those two lives—a comfortable, stable life and an exciting, changing life.
The bottom line
So we can increase our motivation and find the next opportunity, like the surfing example above.
If we want change, it is better to accept the mental changes. That is the same as the waves. If we ride them well, we can get great motivation. And they will lead us to a better place.
If we can use this way of changing, we might be able to increase our motivation.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
