Take Advantage Of ‘Motivation Waves’ To Build Better Habits

Take Advantage Of ‘Motivation Waves’ To Build Better Habits

It’s the time of year for New Year’s resolutions, and for a lot of people, that means trying to develop better habits. One way to set yourself up for success is to take advantage of your “motivation waves”.

In the above video, Ramit Sethi and BJ Fogg talk about this concept and how you can harness it to build better habits. As Fogg explains, a motivation wave is a time when you’re feeling extremely empowered and, well, motivated to reach your goal. For example, let’s say you’ve just spent a crazy amount of money on the holidays, now it’s the New Year, and you’re finally ready to turn your finances around — you’re pumped! During that wave, build a system that helps you stick to those habits whether you’re motivated or not.

For example, you could set up an automatic savings transfer at your bank. This way, you have no choice but to save, whether you’re motivated or not. Or you could unlink your credit card info from problem shopping sites. This way, when your motivation is low and you’re tempted to spend, spending isn’t as easy. Or, if you’re trying to make it a habit to learn about investing, schedule a meeting with an investment manager when you hit a motivation wave. Later, when you’re not as motivated, you’re still obligated to go to the meeting and learn about your options.

The bottom line is: take as much action as you can when this wave hits, and safeguard yourself from future discouragement. It’s a simple enough tip, but the concept is pretty interesting, and you can learn more about it in the video above.

How to use “motivation waves” to create new habits, wiht BJ Fogg [Ramit Sethi (YouTube)]


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