Written by I can only speak for myself when I say that I struggle in the change from Autumn to Winter to have the same level of drive and enthusiasm that I have through the warmer months. The shorter days mean that I seem to get less done (perceptively, as I still do the same work) than I do in the summer months.
When my enthusiasm starts to wane, I have to rely on discipline to bring that motivation back…..
To those who know me, I work and play hard, I start something and I do not stop until I get it finished, in addition to this I pick up other tasks along the way to use the down time in other tasks to ensure that I can achieve as much as possible in the time I have allocated.
My parents were both extremely hard workers, my brother and I were left a lot to do the things that needed doing at home: preparing vegetables, collecting firewood, dishes, feeding livestock, gardening etc.
I give them a lot of the credit for being the person that I am today, I learnt about Discipline from them and the value of hard work. Further to this I learnt that everything is possible with continued and constant effort, if I make a mistake then learn and carry on.
From my Father who at 70 is starting to slow down a little, taught me to do as much as you can and not to waste time doing things that are not important. There are jobs that you just have to do no matter how mundane they appear because they just have to be completed.
Dad would work every day and then work through out the weekend whether it was cutting firewood for heating the house or doing farming tasks, mechanical tasks or building / construction activities through out my childhood while I lived at home.
My mother is also a very hard worker, who worked to support us on top of training to run marathons, pounding the pavements for a good hour most days of the week after work as well as training and gaining the qualifications she needed to lead a Hospital operating theatre.
The value to me as a child growing up was that I learnt that to be successful I had to work hard, the jobs I had as a child (from 12 years old) were: Paper Deliveries, Milk deliveries – (Here I learnt when jumping from a moving truck, move your legs at the same speed as the truck is travelling, another very valuable skill!), Sheep carcass mincer (seriously disgusting job), Electronics assembly for a manufacturing company (here I learnt about Naturists!) – these were all before I turned 16 years old, this has been invaluable for me to be the person I am today.
The Primary lesson I have learnt doing is that I am responsible fully for my success or failure. If I work hard and work smart then I will not fail, when I have to pivot, pivot quickly – keep focus and it will work – Discipline!
When I am feeling that I am running low on motivation I sit down and think what tasks I have yet to complete and I start working on those, this helps me to fill the motivation tank and allows me to continue planning my next activities, again Discipline…..
The final part of this is to stand up and start doing those tasks, without making the effort to stand up it is still just a thought with no actions and I will be defined by my actions, not my words.