Motivation
by Jeff Haden
Does motivation come first?
Most of us wait to feel motivated before we start something hard, and assume successful people just have more of it. Jeff Haden, a ghostwriter who has worked with many high achievers, argues we have it backwards. In The Motivation Myth, motivation is something you earn by making progress.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
Haden's central claim is that motivation is a result of success. You don't get fired up and then succeed. You do something, get a small win, and that win makes you want to keep going. Then the next session brings another one.
A rousing speech or video can make you feel ready to change your life. Haden says the feeling rarely survives the first hard morning, because nothing has actually happened yet. What lasts is the satisfaction of having done something, however small.
Haden says to choose your goal, work out the daily routine that would get you there, and then stop thinking about the goal. A distant target mostly reminds you how far away it is. The routine is what you can finish today, and finishing it is the small win.
You rarely need to invent your own method, Haden argues. For most goals, someone has already worked out a process that works, like a marathon training plan. Find it and follow it, and you get your early wins without the guesswork.
The myth
Motivation rarely comes first. It shows up after you start and see some progress.
Small wins
Small successes make you want more, so set up goals you can win at every day.
The routine
Pick your goal, then stop staring at it and focus on the routine you'll follow each day.
Proven plans
Copy a plan that has worked for others rather than inventing your own from scratch.
Hot take · true or myth?
Successful people started out more motivated than everyone else.
Myth. Haden argues high achievers weren't born more driven. They followed a routine, collected early successes, and their motivation grew out of those.
One thing to try
Pick a goal you keep putting off. Write down the smallest daily step of the routine that leads there, such as ten minutes of Spanish before breakfast. Do it tomorrow whether you feel like it or not, and tick it off. Haden's bet is that the ticks bring the motivation.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. The Motivation Myth comes with a Hot Take round to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appDoes motivation come first? Most of us wait to feel motivated before we start something hard, and assume successful people just have more of it. Jeff Haden, a ghostwriter who has worked with many high achievers, argues we have it backwards. In The Motivation Myth, motivation is something you earn by making progress.
The feeling follows the win; Why pep talks fade; Set the goal, then set it aside; Borrow a proven plan.
Pick a goal you keep putting off. Write down the smallest daily step of the routine that leads there, such as ten minutes of Spanish before breakfast. Do it tomorrow whether you feel like it or not, and tick it off. Haden's bet is that the ticks bring the motivation.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from The Motivation Myth in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Hot Take round to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
