I’m feeling oddly motivated. Like that first tingle you get with athlete’s foot. The feeling has been growing slowly in me over the past couple of weeks, moving from proverbial itchy feet to actually doing something about it.
The epiphany that caused this upswell of motivation, came to me whilst bodyboarding off the British coast a few weeks ago. Most of the waves were small and unnoteworthy. When the medium sized ones arrived you had to figure out if they were big enough to propel you all the way to the beach – often they wouldn’t. Occasionally a whopper would arrive, which would guarantee beach-reaching glory but, also threatened failure and a lung full of vomit-inducing seawater. Knowing when to jump with a wave was therefore the key, to having fun, staying put or wiping out.
Being motivated, or, as I like to call it, Getting Shit Done (GSD) is not dissimilar to my bodyboarding experience. The little waves are your Monday mornings. Noticeable, but too regular and uninspiring to do anything other than review your calendar, check your emails and plan your week ahead.
The medium waves are those rarer instances of genuine interest where for a short moment you consider taking action. This might be watching an online TED talk, reading an interesting book, or chatting to an inspirational person. Maybe not enough to actually do anything substantial, but enough to get you a bit excited about what might come soon.
And then the big waves are the ones you can’t ignore. Sure you can give them a miss and you won’t gain or lose anything, but if you hold on tight and take the leap, something in your life will change. These big waves are (for me at least) in September, when the Summer holidays are over and the kids go back to school. It’s also January, when I’m a bit bigger in the belly and lighter in the wallet.
September and January are preceded (hopefully) by some chill-out time, so my energy levels are high, and are moments of change for everyone (a new school term or a new year), so it’s a good time to be reflective of what’s to come. In those two months, I’m really keen to Get Shit Done.
Very occasionally, you’ll be hit by a fucking tsunami.
Turning 40 (or 50, or 60), being made redundant out of the blue or given shitty news from a doctor. How you handle these moments is often shaped by how many waves you’ve jumped on so far. Experience breeds wisdom and confidence.
So this September’s big wave has motivated me to write this blog.
And buy some athlete’s foot cream.
Where will your wave take you?
