You don’t necessarily need a strong motivation to achieve ambitious goals; sometimes, all it takes is a small motivation to make minor changes.
In the past, when someone would express their desire to do something but couldn’t due to various reasons, I used to think that the problem lay in not having a strong enough motivation or in one’s self-identity. After all, change requires effort, and people tend to stick to their usual way of life, even if they recognize its ongoing negative impact on themselves.
However, after I began practicing coaching, I realized that you don’t always need immense motivation to start making changes. Often, motivation itself arises from making small efforts. If the goal seems too distant initially, it can be overwhelming and deter you from initiating change.
When I first started coaching, there was a lot of uncertainty and self-doubt. Apart from talking to coaches, reading books, or enrolling in courses, I wasn’t sure how to proceed.
But thanks to a spontaneous decision in mid-January to start practicing coaching with a friend, after a few conversations, I discovered that I really enjoyed it and might even be suited for it. It wasn’t because I believed I had great coaching abilities; on the contrary, I felt quite inadequate after each session. Surprisingly, though, I found pleasure in this frustration as it continually pushed me to acknowledge my shortcomings. After each conversation, I would reflect on whether I had framed questions clearly, if I had overlooked certain directions, if I had biases in my thinking, or if my coaching tools were inadequate. These frustrations led me to seek understanding in areas I wasn’t familiar with and spurred me to continuously improve myself, hoping to help others in the future.
Because I enjoyed every conversation with my friend, I’ve been feeling quite content lately. It’s the kind of feeling where you look forward to waking up in the morning just to have those conversations. I haven’t felt this eager about an entire day in a long time. I’ve come to appreciate this aspect of myself. It’s the kind of feeling that makes me willing to wake up early before work or spend time talking to others after work because I believe it’s meaningful to me.
So, I’ve been thinking that perhaps you don’t always need a strong motivation to make certain changes. Many times, it’s because our goals are set too far ahead, making the imagined effort seem too distant, leading us to give up before even starting. With a small motivation and small goals, starting with simple attempts, your motivation might slowly emerge from the actions themselves.
This is the article translated from my post on Threads using ChatGPT:
