Keys to Motivation - With Kudzu

Motivation works in different ways for different brains and personalities, and it’s important to understand what does work for you and not judge yourself for what simply does not work to motivate you. This is the number one complaint that I hear from both clients and family members of clients - accusations that others are lazy, undriven, avoidant.

Yes, we can certainly be all those things. Sometimes we ARE avoiding a deemed unpleasant task. However, sometimes we realize the importance of a task but just can’t find the motivation to get to it and get it done. Sometimes we may complete it, late, and not forward it on to where it needs to be accounted for, like our professors, the IRS, or the DMV.

When it comes to completing non preferred tasks, we first have to figure out how to motivate ourselves. We have to get ready to get ready.

For me, as an example, let’s say I have a border of my property that has Kudzu creeping in that needs to be cleared. This is a daunting task that I know I can’t do solo, so the first step is to ask the right people for help and schedule it.

Wait, did you say “Ask for HELP???”

Yep. Being a mature task master requires us to ask for help with some tasks. Asking for help from the right people is the #2 determining factor of success for most college students (making the right friends being #1). 

I asked a Chattanooga reared hard-working academic to help me clear some kudzu, someone who is a dear friend who is not afraid of a challenge and who could both hold me accountable and help me get it done. We also decided to EAT the kudzu as a final act of destroying it. Those of you who have ever tried to eradicate this vine know the effort it takes to dig up the root, pull the vine from the tops of trees, and unravel it from the underbrush. It’s a beast.

Ok, so I had accountability, a timeframe, and a friend to help make it fun. Now, we set to making wine out of sour grapes.

We harvested the blossoms down by the creek’s edge, took our tools to the ground and the trees, and 4 hours later erupted from the woods with a wheelbarrow full of edibles and forest much less strangled.

Then came the fun. I invited other friends over to hang out and cook. We spent an hour prepping the leaves and cooking them to make Kudzu chips, challenging ourselves to make the best seasoning and salsa dips. We prepped the blossoms and soaked them in the fridge overnight. The next day, we finished canning jelly out of the blossoms. Canning was something I had always wanted to do, and with my friend’s guidance (and recipes online) we made the most beautiful fushia jelly that will now become presents for my friends and family. 

So, what worked to get me to complete an arduous task? 

1. Ask for help

2. Determine a time and timeframe

3. Establish measurable accountability

4. Make it fun

5. Determine an immediate reward 

As a reminder for how this played out for me, I asked my friend for help, set Labor Day weekend as the timeframe, invited others over to make food and celebrate that evening, and ended up with 2 dozen jelly jars to gift to others and myself. The greatest rewards, however, were seeing the forest unchoked and spending quality, memorable time with friends.

What works for you? Do you need poppin’ music, does it help to gamify a task, do you like to be in new, exciting place to work? Maybe you need to fabricate a sense of urgency?

Whatever it is, a coach can help you build self-awareness by identifying your motivating tactics and guide you to frame undesired tasks with what specifically helps you.

Knowing something is good for you or important simply doesn’t work for most of us. Internal motivation only goes so far. What external factors can you establish and enact so that you can get the tough things done? I’m here if you need support and glad to help.