The Key To Infinite Motivation: The Goldilocks Rule
A few weeks ago, I finished reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. Alongside much advice about habit formation and bad-habit deconstruction, there is one chapter in the book that particularly captured my fancy. This section of the book discusses a problem that haunts me along with many of my peers: motivation loss. We all know how much of a sinusoidal curve motivation is. There are some random time periods where we feel we can take on any challenge the world throws at us while other times, we are too lazy to get up and grab the TV remote. Is there a way to retain a balanced, steady state of motivation? According to Clear, the answer is a definite yes.
This chapter of the book begins discussing the life story of Steve Martin, an incredibly successful comedian. In his youth, Steve’s acts lasted only several minutes and were given to small groups of audiences only. It is after about a decade of practice that he was able to increase his performance duration, comedic value, and fame. Now, let’s take a minute to think about how impressive this feat is. Normally, one would be discouraged after a few years of solo performances on stage leading to something short of stardom (especially doing something as difficult as comedy). However, we see a fascinating case of someone sticking through the odds and obtaining recognition.
In my opinion, the first tool that is needed for this long yet rewarding process is passion. With this invaluable asset, work becomes play allowing us to become experts in our respective fields given some time. But what do we do when we hit a brick wall in our journey to obtaining greatness and this feeling becomes shrouded by anxiety? This is where the Goldilocks Rule comes in. According to Clear, this 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. Just right.’ Going back to our good old friend Steve Martin, I am absolutely certain he has had days where he felt like giving up. This may be due to a rough audience reception or stage-fright during the show. As hard as it may be, he focused on the process of growing rather than the potential outcome. Applying the Goldilocks Rule, Steve kept a steady pace by ever so gradually growing his performance lengths. This way, his work became a good balance between easy and hard.
If Steve only continued to perform at small bars and kept his performance length around 5 minutes, he would have grown complacent and not progressed as a result. On the other hand, if he tried jumping from a 5 minute performance at a local bar to a 20 minute one at a large comedy club, he would have hit a hard brick wall. After all, we have to crawl before we can walk. Gradual growth is the key, and Martin was able to immerse himself in the process completely for years before reaching fame. If you regularly bench 100 lbs, would it make sense to jump to 200 lbs the next day? Absolutely not. As obvious as this fact is, we neglect it when it comes to work and productivity. So the main takeaway from this that I thought was very useful: push yourself gradually, and fall in love with the process rather than the result 🏆.
Now, let us discuss another mind-blowing highlight I came across in this chapter: dealing with boredom. James Clear discusses a conversation he had with an elite coach regarding the ingredients for becoming a successful athlete. The coach told him that apart from luck and genetics, success boils down to who is best at dealing with boredom within that field. Now, I am not going to sugarcoat anything and say ‘if you have a passion for the field you will never be bored’. There will always be aspects of it that seem mundane to you. For me in the field of data science, cleaning and pre-processing data is about 80% of the work. Although manageable at first, I get extremely eager to build models and extract knowledge from the cleaned data. This is normal and you should not feel guilt from it.
It is easy to look around and think that others have a never-ending source of motivation and passion for a field, but the case is quite the contrary. They too have peaks and troughs in motivation. What may set these people apart is the fact that they still keep going regardless of this factor. It comes down to accepting homogeneity in work-life. Of course, there will be days where you work on things of your favorite flavors and your passion for the field grows bright. But in those other days where that is not the case, it is important to keep pushing through. Clear states that having this quality is what differentiates professionals and amateurs.
It is astounding how this abstract concept that bothered me for the longest time was elucidated in this book. I felt comforted by the fact that many others face motivation loss much like I do and did not realize the obvious threats of novel habit formation. Now that we know it, it would be wise to remember what makes successful people successful: continuous effort and satisfaction from boredom. For those who want more juicy insights, I highly highly recommend reading Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Other Key Takeaways ✅ :
- We tend to place more emphasis on major decisions we make rather than gradual improvement. It is wiser to focus on the later
- When starting a new habit, it is common to hit a plateau phase where results are not apparent. Powering through this phase is essential. Although it may not feel rewarding, continuing the behavior is necessary to obtain the results we aim for
- Setting up the appropriate environment for bad-habit destruction is important (i.e remove junk food from your pantry, put your phone in another room during work, etc.)
- Our former selves can be a hindrance to forming new habits. To clear this obstacle, take a minute each day to view yourself in a different light that aligns with the identity you strive towards. Doing so, you will be motivated to continue this behavior that allows you to describe yourself in this way. Example: If you have been going to the gym for the past week without missing a day, begin thinking of yourself as an athletic individual
- When forming new habits, have a specific implementation plan ready. “I will study for my linear algebra exam at 4pm on my desk”
- Tie the new desired behavior into something you do regularly
- Habit bundling is doing something you enjoy alongside or right after an activity that you need to do but do not find as enjoyable (the new habit). “After I finish studying for my linear algebra exam, I will play a game on my PS5”
- To deal with anxiety before talking to a crowd or before a big game, reframe this nervousness as excitement. Think of the adrenaline rush as a helper rather than as an obstacle
- We tend to mistake the planning phase of doing something as being productive. Focus more on the ‘doing’ side than the planning side despite fear of failure
- Do not give any consideration for how other view you. Do what makes you feel good, complete, and genuine
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