Intrinsic motivation

Will the stock photos end? NEVER!

As you may know I keep a personal journal. One thing I do with this journal is read previous entries and comment on the margins. Usually, the comments take the form of a “good job!” followed by the date I wrote it. It’s a nice way to converse with my past self and serves a form of therapy.

It was a habit that I took on more last year when I was on a self-improvement kick (and thoroughly unemployed). But lately I’ve neglected to do that, mostly because I have been busy just trying to live my life instead of improving it (having a job will do that).

But I gave myself some time to read my journal today. I thought I hadn’t been productive, as I had skipped a bunch of writing days, I was pleasantly surprised that I had written a lot.

It goes to show that I don’t give myself enough credit. I am more productive than I think. I’m just too in the weeds to really notice it and my depressed brain defaults to telling me that I am not doing enough.

This is motivating. And the best part is that I’m giving myself that motivation. It’s intrinsic, which means that I can bring that motivation whenever I need it.

Now, I just need to trust myself to deliver that motivation.