Solving for Starts and Generating Motivation

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The key is to focus on solving for the initial momentum to get started instead of waiting for motivation. It is essential to take micro steps that trick your physiology to initiate movement, which in turn generates motivation. Once you have momentum, the laws of physics take over, propelling you forward. The importance lies in addressing the challenge of getting started, which is often overlooked in favor of focusing on later stages. Procrastination is categorized as either struggling to bridge the intention-action gap or transitioning into survival mode.

In this episode, we sit down with therapist Britt Frank to discuss the intention action gap, the psychological term for the chasm between what you very much intend to do and what you tend to do instead. It turns out, there's a well-researched psychological framework that includes a term for when you have a stated, known goal – a change you'd like to make in your life – something you wake up intending to finally do or get started doing, but then don't do while knowing full well you are actively not doing what you ought and wish you had done by now. After we discuss this phenomenon and how to deal with it, we get into procrastination and how to escape all manner of dead-end behavioral loops.

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