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How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

durmonski.com

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Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#51

Post by crazygringo »

So the author says "stick to it for 3 years".

But that doesn't answer the question at all. The question becomes, how do you stay motivated for those 3 years?

The answer, for me and people I know, is that you have to break it down into small pieces (month-sized, then week-sized, then day-sized) and find happiness in the progress. In the small daily wins.

If you think you'll only be happy once you succeed (3+ years later) you'll never make it. It's trite but it's true, that you've got to find happiness in the journey, not just the destination.

Because if you don't, then you'll absolutely give up and fall back to the things that do give you instant happiness today, whether that's social media or spending time with your spouse or kids. And if you choose your family over a long-term project because the project isn't producing happiness... then that might be the right choice for you! :)

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#52

Post by pier25 »

nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

You won’t get anywhere in a month with a violin or a piano.

Some things are just harder but that doesn’t mean they are not worth it.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#53

Post by godsplan1 »

crazygringo wrote: post #51

So the author says "stick to it for 3 years". But that doesn't answer the question at all. The question becomes, how do you stay motivated for those 3 years? The answer, for me and people I know, is that you have to break it down into small pieces (month-sized, then week-sized, then day-sized) and find happiness in the progress . In the small daily wins. If you think you'll only be happy once you succeed (3+ years la…

I believe it is something like "12 Angry Men" 1 hour analogy. There is no logic to it. But the point is that instead of just randomly leaving the project in between, give it time to mature.

For the author 3 years worked the best, it may be 1 year year for you.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#54

Post by godsplan1 »

I believe it is something like "12 Angry Men" 1 hour analogy. There is no logic to it (why 1 hour). But the point is that instead of just randomly leaving the project in between, give it time to mature.

For the author 3 years worked the best, it may be 1 year year for others.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#55

Post by rambojazz »

nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

We need another article, "How I stay motivated reading How I stay motivated working on my long-term project".

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#56

Post by justtart »

eloff wrote: post #43
nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

I thought there were some insightful things in there. For one the biggest problem with staying motivated over a long period of time is the lack of instant gratification. Humans aren't good with delayed gratification - hardly surprising or revolutionary, but right on the money. The other thing I liked was the somewhat non obvious advice to stay focused on your goal and not be open to other opportunities. This sank a l…

I enjoyed the article too.

It makes the assumption that the motivation is already there and he enjoys doing it, only is not seeing immediate feedback.

I think 3 years is kind of arbitrary and not to be taken literally. He's just saying that sometimes these projects take longer than expected to gain any traction

The thing about not being open to other opportunities reminds me of the idea of flow: You don't focus on getting into flow but you focus on avoiding distractions that would prevent you from getting there.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#57

Post by jvln »

My two cents. I prefer analogy with sport. Say you choose running and pick 10k distance. What might be the goal? 50min, 40min, 30min? Say you pick 50min, if you are out of shape and did not do sport in your life - it will take you 6-9 months. You will have to train 3 times a week, probably you won't hire a couch, your body won't be ready, hence you will make many mistakes and will have quite high chances to injure your self and quit. What I want to emphasize - to succeed you have to start loving the process and blend the process into your lifestyle.

I see very clearly how the goal oriented approach fails for loosing weight while the only effective thing to do is eat less.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#58

Post by durmonski »

rambojazz wrote: post #55
nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

We need another article, "How I stay motivated reading How I stay motivated working on my long-term project".

I hear you :)

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#59

Post by tillcarlos »

Not sure I can agree to this. Not everything that you commit to for 3 years will turn out a success.

The quoted Matt D'avela video featured 2 Austrailian podcasters who committed to 5 years. They just released their 800th episode, and the average view count is in the hundreds: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDailyTalkShow

I'd rather follow Noah Kagan. I forgot the source but I think he said you should place much more effort into deciding _what_ to work on.

In our hustle culture this is underrated. It's mostly deciding on what, and related to that: timing.

Re: How I stay motivated working on my long-term project

#60

Post by dkdk8283 »

nwienert wrote: post #33
nicbou wrote: post #19

That was a tedious read. Most of the article is just filler text. There is a whole page of it before the point: give yourself 3 years. Why 3 years? Because Rome wasn't built in a day. That's pretty much all there is to it. The advice feels pretty circular. To stay motivated, do it for 3 years. If you can commit to something for 3 years, you already have the motivation. Regardless, I disagree with this advice. Give it…

Disagree, many (most?) things worth doing and doable take more than a month to get used to or to get to the good part. I’ve definitely not “hit my stride” until month 8 or so of certain projects of which I adore once I do. Keep at it so long as you believe in the mission.

I’m in the same boat as you but my commitment period is 90 days. Studying, lifestyle changes, etc.
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