In Brief: Essential Insights for Post-Military Transition
2 Oct 2023 · 6 min
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In this solo InBrief podcast episode, Jordana Megonigal, CEO of the Recon Network, challenges the common belief that motivation is a prerequisite for action. She argues that motivation is a passive, often mythical force that people wait for, likening it to a non‑existent "motivation fairy." Instead, she proposes shifting focus to building momentum—continuous, small actions that generate their own drive. Jordana explains why external motivators (rewards, accountability, threats) are insufficient and how momentum requires only movement, not high energy or enthusiasm. She offers concrete tactics: setting short timers, using a 15‑minute sprint, employing a "20‑second of courage" mindset (inspired by the film We Bought a Zoo), and a simple 3‑2‑1 countdown to initiate tasks. These practices reduce procrastination, bypass excuses, and trigger dopamine rewards from checking off items, creating a self‑reinforcing loop of progress. The episode concludes with a call to take personal power, stop waiting for motivation, and actively generate momentum in daily chores and larger goals.
Chapters
This is InBrief. Let's get to it. Hey there, and welcome back to the InBrief podcast. My name is Jordana. I am the CEO of the Recon Network. And with this podcast, we like to give you something to think about, some kind of practice to take into your transition phase, or even your life beyond, and hopefully it makes your life a little bit easier. Today we are talking about the myth of motivation. So how often do you feel unmotivated? Like, you know, there's something or even things that you need to be doing, but you can't really stir up enough energy to care about actually doing it. And it's not just at work, although we constantly hear about how we need to be motivated there. It's in our daily lives too. daily chores, our big goals. And all of this has only gotten worse as a culture since the pandemic, which left more of us even more unmotivated than before, whether due to a loss of routine, a loss of connection, or just a more solitary, depressive state of being. The thing about motivation that we don't often recognize is that it's passive. We're waiting for it to happen to us. We're waiting for the magical motivation fairy to ding us on the head with her wand of willpower and all of a sudden be granted this drive to move forward. And that would be great if the motivation fairy were real, but she's not. I know, it's so sad. And so it's up to us to figure out how to motivate ourselves when time is of the essence and we're trying to accomplish whatever it is we're trying to accomplish, be it big or small. But because motivation is passive in nature, it's hard to cultivate a personal discipline that allows you to just get motivated. Sure, there are tips. You can set a reward for completion or have someone else hold you accountable, but those are still external motivators. They're things outside of yourself that you're using to either bribe yourself or, in the case of my friends, use threats of bodily harm to get the job done. So what if we shifted away from this constant need to be motivated and instead started building momentum toward things getting done? After all, who really wants to be motivated to scrub down a bathroom or even do that huge report for work? Are we asking too much of ourselves to really be excited about everything that has to be done? Are we asking too much to be really motivated To get something done that just has to be done. What if we dropped this idea that we have to be somehow inspired by everything around us and just saw things as things that might need to be done along the way? Now, I wish this was my idea to shift thinking from motivation to momentum, but it isn't. I saw it on social media somewhere, and the notion just stuck with me immediately. But it did stick with me, and the more I think about it, The more I realize momentum doesn't need energy or even a great attitude behind it to get things done. It just needs to be moving. And after the start, momentum means that you'll keep going because you have direction and you have progress and you have movement. You realize it's maybe not as hard as you were making it in your head, or that you were waiting to be internally excited about something that just isn't going to be exciting. But you decide to do one thing. Maybe it's setting a timer for 15 minutes or setting a short-term goal. And before you know it, something is done, and the dopamine rush of checking off that box prods you into doing the next thing and the next thing. And before you know it, you're running on momentum. You're achieving success in doses and getting more and more comfortable with moving the ball forward in that area. So if you're looking to build more momentum instead of waiting for the motivation fairy that doesn't exist, here's something that you can try. Just start. If it's a big scary thing that you're facing, try the 20 seconds of courage from the movie We Bought a Zoo. The main character who was feeling lost in life and ends up buying a full-blown zoo talks about how all the big things in life can happen with a mere 20 seconds of insane courage. And if it's not that serious, more like sending that one email you've been putting off, then it doesn't really take 20 seconds of courage. Heck, the whole thing could be done by then. Instead, just do a countdown from 3. 3, 2, 1. When you hit 1, do the thing. That's it. No more waffling. No more waiting. No more procrastination. And this sounds super simple, but here's a spoiler. Many solutions are. What we're doing is removing the need for external prodding and removing the power of excuses and the emotion of dread that we've undoubtedly stacked up along the way about doing the things. We're just doing the things, period. And it is that simple. So next time you find yourself sitting around waiting to get motivated enough to do something, slap yourself out of it. Set a timer. Countdown to go, or just find those 20 seconds of courage. But the most important thing is this: don't wait for something to happen to you. Take the power yourself and make something happen.
