Motivation boost

Often, I face a lack of motivation in my life. Everything seems to lack profound meaning, and even though I enjoy the activities, they don’t make sense when viewed from a higher perspective. This type of thinking applies to everything I’m not forced to do, such as surfing or jiujitsu. Nobody expects me to wake up at 6 am and train, I’m not making any money off it, and there is no clear benefit, especially during a cold morning under the warm duvet. Then I question my hobbies, wondering if they might become obsessions, and maybe it would be better to work during working hours and rest outside of them, fulfilling only my obligations to the family. I believe this type of thinking is widespread, and it touches the philosophical question that has bothered many, much bigger minds than mine over the centuries. Finding meaning in our actions is not easy, but I believe it is essential to living a fulfilling life in the 21st century, when we can’t rely on others to impose meaning on our lives.

Finding meaning in work, even the simplest, might be relatively easy. We need to feed our families, which makes it easy to understand why we do it. With hobbies, it is a different story. We spend our resources on it instead of gaining. There might be some benefits in the long run, but it might not make much sense if we are not looking far into the horizon. I like to look for short-term motivations, such as competitions or little pet projects that I plan to finish on a given date. This approach makes it easier to stay motivated during doubts and helps explain why I prefer training or coding over watching YouTube or Netflix.

Last year, with a few mates, we were doing morning BJJ classes. We woke up early twice a week and rolled before sunrise. Because we had a competition coming up, it was much easier to motivate ourselves. Finally, we were well prepared when the day came, and all the hard training paid off. That’s a great feeling that you can only experience when you postpone gratification long enough, and instead of staying in bed another 30 minutes regularly, go to the mat to train.

For a long time, I struggled to find the motivation I needed in surfing. But, unfortunately, I can’t pretend I have any chance in the surfing competition here in Australia. So, unrealistic goals are not helping to motivate. Until now, I have set small goals, such as learning to pop up and gaining confidence in the water. However, since it is tough to measure, I feel like I’m not making any progress. I struggled to find the right trigger until I thought about the Polish Surfing Challenge. We have a few outstanding surfers in Poland, but the average level is significantly lower than in Australia. I believe I can compete and even win some heats if I train hard enough.

So, I’ve started a training program to work on each aspect of my surfing, to do well during the Polish Surfing Challenge 2022. I have been surfing regularly for over half a decade, and I’m confident I can make it good enough to win some heats in our cold Baltic Sea. I need to stay motivated and keep waking up early, rather than making excuses.