Is negative motivation helpful to escape wage slavery?

[BlackMaze]

I thought that maybe a way to motivate myself to do the work that needs to get done is to think of what my life will be like if i don't escape wage slavery. Is this helpful or is it better to think more positively about this? 

[Moon]

Why be fueled by anxiety of the worst case scenario when you can be fueled by excitement of the best case scenario? Negative motivation can cause stress in life, and stress can lead to a whole load of additional difficulties, including physical symptoms and health problems. Don't make your life more difficult, be kind to yourself 

Positively motivating yourself is great but also don't be constantly focused on the future outcome, and enjoy the process in the present moment too! 

 

[BlackMaze]

@Moon

The real problem is that i can't get fueled. 

Sometimes i feel motivated and do the work and sometimes i force myself to do the work. I found my life purpose but to make it happen i need to learn tons of technical skills with let's say 1000 hours of learning. After this learning phase i'm sure that it will be worth it and it will not be hard anymore but i resist this phase. I could force myself to work but i don't want this whole process to feel forced all the time. One obstacle was low energy. Now my energy is a lot better but i still procrastinate. I guess the solution is like you said to enjoy the process in the present moment but it's not so clear for me how to do that.

[peqkno]

20 hours ago, BlackMaze said:

it's not so clear for me how to do that

Did you do the LPC? If yes, you could possible go from abstract to concrete and take some educated guesses. that's one I see you could go... sth else?

 

20 hours ago, BlackMaze said:

Sometimes i feel motivated and do the work and sometimes i force myself to do the work.

When you're really motivated, what gets you going? Do you have an idea?

 

20 hours ago, BlackMaze said:

One obstacle was low energy. Now my energy is a lot better

Great!

[Moon]

@BlackMaze

In terms of reducing procrastination, you could perhaps try this "Mini habits" technique, which is definitely effective with many examples of results in the comments of the vid below. It just makes starting much easier, e.g. telling yourself you only need to do 5 minutes of work but doing it consistently every day and ending up doing much more! (Sounds silly at first and too low of a goal, but sometimes procrastination can occur from high expectations which leads to a procrastination-negative emotion cycle).

In terms of enjoying the process, actively find the fun stuff with the skills you're learning, and maybe switch up between different tasks to keep you interested, or sometimes sticking to one can kind of activity can create flow. Idk, I guess just experiment and see what works for you. 

[BlackMaze]

@peqkno

11 hours ago, peqkno said:

Did you do the LPC? If yes, you could possible go from abstract to concrete and take some educated guesses. that's one I see you could go... sth else?

Yes i know what i could be doing, it's just that i resist doing it because it is hard and boring at the start

11 hours ago, peqkno said:

When you're really motivated, what gets you going? Do you have an idea?

That's a really good question! Thank you. The thing that gets me going some times is the creative power i will have in the future and the ability to share my creations with other people. Maybe i should focus more on this!

My energy is alot better now but i still have other areas i should work on like sleeping early and working out. I'm sure that once i'll make those changes it will get easier. 

 

@Moon I'm actually a big fan of mini habits and i experimented with them. Mini habits work and are a powerful tool. However it's not exactly what i'm looking for right now. I don't want to just do the activity everyday, i want to crush it, become workaholic and enjoy it, whatever. Maybe i should drop this expectation i don't know...

3 hours ago, Moon said:

In terms of enjoying the process, actively find the fun stuff with the skills you're learning, and maybe switch up between different tasks to keep you interested, or sometimes sticking to one can kind of activity can create flow. Idk, I guess just experiment and see what works for you. 

That's a good advice thank you very much!