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There is no stronger reason to stay motivated for exercise than for an upcoming wedding or a revenge transformation post-breakup.
I discovered this trend in a conversation with two professional health coaches who had separately reached the same conclusion: One thing separated the people who were motivated to show up and stick to their goals—and those who fell off.
For simplicity, I will call this the Moment Method.
At first, the method seemed obvious, and I didn’t understand the impact this method could have on someone’s motivation. But when I reflected on my own successes and failures, I saw the same pattern in my life. Looking back at goals I have achieved and goals I haven’t achieved – I saw this pattern in my own life as well.
Whenever I’ve used the moment method, I’ve stayed motivated and achieved my goal.
When I haven’t used this method, my motivation has waned.
This blog post will cover how to hack your brain for success, how to stay motivated to create your dream life and achieve your goals through the moment method.
Let’s begin.
What Is the Moment Method?
The Moment Method is a clear, concise, and emotionally impactful vision of the moment when you have achieved your goals.
A “Moment” Could be:
- Getting a driver’s license = The moment you drive alone for the first time
- Writing a book = Holding the finished manuscript in your hands
- Improving Your Health = Picking up an old, beloved activity you want to be able to do with your body
- Cosmetic Goals = Walking down the aisle at your wedding or seeing your ex post break-up
The Rules are the Following:
- The vision must be clear, detailed and immersive.
- The moment needs to have powerful emotional significance for you.
- It needs to feel good and motivating to visualize the moment
- The moment needs to be a direct consequence of the actions you take to achieve the goal; it can’t be an add-on reward (ie; NOT I’ll take a trip after I’ve achieved this goal)
Why Does This Work?
Rule #1: The Vision Must Be Simple
True to its name, the vision must be simple. I originally intended to call it the 3-second method just to emphasise that fact.
It’s meant to keep you motivated when you most need it; so the method must remain simple.
Don’t overcomplicate it.
Avoid making it abstract and far away. I want you to be able to describe the moment with all your senses and with absolute clarity. The more detailed and concise it is, the more likely your brain will release the hormones needed for you to take action.
Rule #2: The Vision Must Be Emotionally Significant
This method will require you to know exactly why you want to achieve a goal, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to identify the core emotion and moment that you’re creating.
That’s another reason why this motivation tip works: It requires you to understand why you desire something. That moment and emotion that you’re really looking for. It isn’t just based on avoiding the shame of not having it. It goes beyond shoulds and musts.
If your vision feels disheartening, shallow, dull, meek or stressful – then pause. This blog isn’t here to encourage hustle culture, or achieving goals that you don’t actually want to achieve.
Focus on a vision that brings you peace, passion, purpose, calm, relief or genuine contentment.
You need to seek deeply and discover your core motivation. And if you can not find that deep-seated motivation in yourself; then perhaps the goal isn’t for you.
How does one find an emotionally impactful motivation?
- You’ve experienced it before.
- You have seen others experiencing it before (like a wedding).
- It’s something you deeply desire, and that makes you feel something.
If you can not identify a lifestyle that you would genuinely feel content with, we’ve successfully identified why you’re not achieving your goals. It isn’t because you’re lazy: It’s because you’re striving for a lifestyle you don’t actually want.
If you’d like to soul-search for what you actually desire, check out my post titled How to discover your authentic self (heal your self concept).
Rule #3. Immediate Feedback
Your little reptile brain wants immediate feedback.
It doesn’t want to wait for results or the emotional reward of whatever you’re trying to achieve. When you rely on numbers and abstract, far-away concepts for motivation – it’s harder to get motivated.
But if you instead rely on a clear vision that has emotional significance for you – your brain will immediately understand and adapt to the goal you want to reach. Why?
Because your brain does not differentiate between reality and imagination to the extent that you may think.
- If you think back to an emberassing moment in middleschool, you will most likely still cringe.
- If you think that you’ll have your favourite food in an hour, you’ll drool now.
So having a strong, emotionally impactful vision means that you’ll experience the same emotion now as you will once you’ve achieved the goal – making your brain release the hormones needed to take action on it.
The Moment in and Of Itself Needs to Feel Like a Reward
The moment in itself needs to feel like a reward – which is the direct consequence of the actions you are taking.
Ie; Studying leads to a better grade – and you’re romanticizing the pursuit of the goal itself.
It does not mean adding a disconnected goal, like “When I’m finished writing this book, I will take a trip.” The goal needs to be of direct consequence so it’s easier for your brain to understand that the action will lead directly to a positive consequence that you desire.
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