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Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#31

Post by SyneRyder »

williamkennedy wrote: post #5

I have actually written about this a lot as it is one of those topics that I am fascinated with. The trick is not to try and motivate yourself but to build systems and processes to get things done regardless. For me, it boils down to 3 things. Pre-planning, habits and elimination. I have written about each separately on my blog http://www.new2code.com/2016/06/deep-work/ I plan a lot of stuff on my Google Calendar. My…

In a similar vein on systems & processes & routines, another good book is How To Fail At Almost Everything And Still Win Big: Kind Of The Story Of My Life by Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert). It's been one of my favorite reads this year & I keep regularly reviewing the notes I took.

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#32

Post by SyneRyder »

ge96 wrote: post #9

Everything was handed to me in life. Not much but enough to get to middle class if I had just followed the rules and stuck with it. But I didn't. I failed out my physics/engineering program. I now work in a factory, and owe around 50K which I barely make 19K a year. My life sucks. But I'm also young. I watch movies, sci Fi movies/shows which motivates me. I want that life. But then I try to program and I'm like "Holy…

Argh. That must feel frustrating & demoralizing. Are you working full time at the factory? Are you working on a project on the side to help lift yourself out of the situation? How do you keep your spirits up? (If it were me, I think that situation would weigh down my self esteem - hanging out with friends would be very important to me to stay upbeat.)

I agree that motivation by fear isn't a good thing & doesn't work for everyone. The times I was most fearful, I found the fear & anxiety paralyzing and I wasn't productive at all.

Being young is good. Things can change quickly - you never know where you'll be in 5 years, 2 years, even next year. I wish you good luck!

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#33

Post by 0x54MUR41 »

I heard that inner motivation (motivation from the inside, in other word, yourself) has more impact than outer motivation.

That was my problem too when I was preparing college entrance examination. My teacher told me that you can get a motivation by categorizing what you love, what you fear, and what you hate. Someone can get a motivation because he hates something. So, write it down! Repeat what you've written regularly before and after you're going to bed.

Side note: I would recommend James Clear's reading list for motivation [1].

[1]: http://jamesclear.com/motivation

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#34

Post by williamkennedy »

cylinder wrote: post #20
williamkennedy wrote: post #5

I have actually written about this a lot as it is one of those topics that I am fascinated with. The trick is not to try and motivate yourself but to build systems and processes to get things done regardless. For me, it boils down to 3 things. Pre-planning, habits and elimination. I have written about each separately on my blog http://www.new2code.com/2016/06/deep-work/ I plan a lot of stuff on my Google Calendar. My…

Thanks, I watched the video. I totally agree about avoiding news and being low information. Unfollowing all my Facebook friends so I have no feed has been great. I was until recently ignoring a lot of news but due to boredom have allowed myself to get sucked back in.

I have a Chrome Plugin called News Feed Eradicator for Facebook. *

I find it is a terrific solution for preventing you from browsing Facebook. Now everytime, I got to Facebook out of habit, I end up leaving because my news feed does not exist and I don't get sucked in.

Works for me anyway.

* https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#36

Post by riotvan »

8611m wrote: post #13

This is not very scientific, but it has worked for me. I have curated this list of YouTube videos some of which have helped me and some of my friends a lot in the last year. I watch 1-2 of these in the gym when I am doing my cardio (elliptical or treadmill) three times a week towards the end of my workout. goo.gl/Xv4pwT I am a very distracted person, and need constant reminders. I have designed my life in such a way…

This is interesting because I think this is my problem as well. I've tried TODO lists, writing things on paper, but I eventually forget about them. Do you use todo lists? Do you write everything down in paper?

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#37

Post by ge96 »

SyneRyder wrote: post #32
ge96 wrote: post #9

Everything was handed to me in life. Not much but enough to get to middle class if I had just followed the rules and stuck with it. But I didn't. I failed out my physics/engineering program. I now work in a factory, and owe around 50K which I barely make 19K a year. My life sucks. But I'm also young. I watch movies, sci Fi movies/shows which motivates me. I want that life. But then I try to program and I'm like "Holy…

Argh. That must feel frustrating & demoralizing. Are you working full time at the factory? Are you working on a project on the side to help lift yourself out of the situation? How do you keep your spirits up? (If it were me, I think that situation would weigh down my self esteem - hanging out with friends would be very important to me to stay upbeat.) I agree that motivation by fear isn't a good thing & doesn't work…

I'm not sure if I replied to you. I think I replied to myself. Also I'm new to HN so I didn't know how to check for messages.

Yeah it sucks, but you know, I made the decisions to get here. Also I've burned bridges too, which made me concerned like "How will I get a job without references?" but factories you know, they'll hire just about anybody.

I work on web development (freelance) on my spare time, but I'm bad at pricing/businessman and also I'm not that great (reinvent the wheel, use bad code, etc...). I'm really into technology, aviation, robotics, programming, I want to be one of those that I read about in the news. Space. AI, etc... it just sucks being there. I'm trapped. I have this miserable look on my face all the time. I feel bad that people see it. But I can't hide it too, I hate it. But other people also hate this job, but they don't seem to make it other people's problems.

So I just day dream while I lose myself cutting meat in the factory. I dream of ideas, designs, etc... I fear I am delusional, if I make the money then I must not be right? So far I haven't made any money so... not going very well haha.

I was in a box, for the last two years, now it's a corner, hopefully it'll be a room(box again)/house.

Yeah it's hard to keep sane. Sorry I ranted.

Re: Ask HN: How do you motivate yourself?

#38

Post by mattbgates »

ryanmccullagh wrote: post #30
mattbgates wrote: post #29

My motivation at my age: Make my primary job my second job and make enough money in my startup so that it becomes my primary job. How do I stay motivated to keep at it with my startup? Aside from enjoying doing what I do, developing web apps, I write down the potential profit involved that I could be making every month. Those are the numbers I want to be making that I'm currently not making and that is what keeps me…

Hey Matt. What is your startup, if you don't mind me asking, of course.

Hey Ryan, although I'm still developing the projects, I began an umbrella business which specializes in delivering affordable communication services to companies and individuals.
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