Where do we see this?
If you think back on your New Year's Resolutions from this year and years past, you have probably experienced this phenomena. When January 1 strikes you have very high motivation to tackle those tricky things like losing weight, being more active, taking on a new hobby and becoming a better person in general. How do/did you feel 3 weeks later? Did you maintain that high motivation the whole time or did it start to fade?
It is common to go through these cycles. We experience things that inspire us. Whether it is an article we read, or a person we meet we get excited and make a commitment to change. Then life takes over. We have a million things going on and motivation for any given thing falls away.
So what can you do about it?
If you can recognize a peak in motivation use it for all it is worth (more on that later, but if you are interested in how to capitalize on high motivation, check out this video from BJ Fogg out of the Behavior Design Lab at Stanford University). On the other hand, when motivation wanes, be compassionate towards yourself. Look at low motivation as an opportunity to recover and reflect, not as a failure.
The nice things about waves is that highs and lows come and they are pretty predictable so ride the highs for all they are worth and be patient when riding out the lows knowing a high is on it's way!
Best,
Andrew Zimmermann
[email protected]
@andrewzimbd