How Do You Motivate Yourself? – The Rucksack Of Rocks Story

 

There’s a well-known story about a man who had to climb a very steep and dangerous mountain.

The journey would take him several days, but he was excited to get started. He imagined the sense of pride and achievement when he reached the summit.

He set off full of motivation and excitement on the first day and made easy and fast progress.

When he woke on the second day he was tired and found it harder to motivate himself. So, into his rucksack he added a couple of rocks, just to give him a boost.

The third day he was feeling very worn down and ready to give up, so he added more rocks to his heavy rucksack.

This carried on for 2 more days until he finally crawled to the summit, feeling exhausted and none of the exhilaration he’d expected.

 

So what is the point of this metaphor?

 

Well, imagine you’ve got a project to achieve; whether it’s at work, or to lose weight or get fit

You’ve set off feeling motivated, but when the initial excitement and drive wears off, what do you do to motivate yourself?

Do you start to worry about whether you’ll achieve your goal, do you give yourself a hard time or do you question your abilities?

All of these, are extra rocks you’re adding to your rucksack and weighing you down.

What if instead, you chose not to engage with your thoughts about it, just to see what happens and enjoy the process?

Then you wouldn’t be weighed down with thinking and expectations and with a lighter rucksack you’d be quicker and enjoy the climb.

 

Good luck.

Jo