Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 499 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Staying Motivated Long Term


Thank you for joining us for our 5 days per week wisdom and legacy building podcast. This is Day 499 of our trek, and today is Motivation Monday. Every Monday we hike the trails of life that will encourage and motivate us to live rich and satisfying lives this week. Today let us explore the trail called Staying Motivated Long Term.

We are broadcasting from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. We were finally able to get a replacement engine in for our lawn vacuum, but as of the time of creating this podcast, the weather does not look good for using it this weekend. Since all of the leaves have finally fallen from the trees, it is only a matter of time. By the looks of it, I have about two days of leaf harvest left before we are finished for this season. That does include blowing leaves off of the roofs and cleaning the gutters that need it. This is no big rush, as the leaves will remain until I get to them, but I am motivated to complete the project before Christmas, so that it will be finalized.

Thinking about motivation as we break camp and head out on our trek for today, let us invest time exploring the concept of…
Staying Motivated Long Term
During the past two Monday’s we have explored what motivation is, and that to be motivated sometimes it requires that we take action first. That may get us started, but the real question that we need to have an answer for is, “How do we stay motivated long term?”
1. Stay Motivated by Using the Goldilocks Rule
Imagine that you are playing tennis. If you try to play a serious match against a four-year-old, you will quickly become bored. The match is too easy. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you try to play a serious match against a professional tennis player like Roger Federer or Serena Williams, you will find yourself demotivated for a different reason. The match is too difficult.

Compare these experiences to playing tennis against someone who is your equal. As the game progresses, you win a few points, and you lose a few points. You have a chance of winning the match, but only if you really try. Your focus narrows, distractions fade away, and you find yourself fully invested in the task at hand. The challenge you are facing is “just manageable.” Victory is not guaranteed, but it is possible. Tasks like these, science has found, are the most likely to keep us motivated in the long term.

Human beings love challenges, but only if they are within the optimal zone of difficulty. Tasks that are significantly below your current abilities are boring. Tasks that are significantly beyond your current abilities are discouraging. Tasks that are right on the border of success and failure are incredibly motivating to your brain. In this zone, you want nothing more than to master a skill just beyond your current horizon.

This is referred to as The Goldilocks Rule. The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities – not too hard, not too easy, but just right.

Working on tasks that adhere to the Goldilocks Rule is one of the keys to maintaining long-term motivation. If you find yourself feeling unmotivated to work on a task, it is often because it has drifted into an area of boredom or been shoved into an area of great difficulty. You need to find a way to pull your tasks back to the border of your abilities where you feel challenged, but capable.


2. How to Reach Peak Motivation
This wonderful blend of happiness and peak performance is sometimes referred to as flow. Flow is what athletes and performers experience when they are ...