“What’s My Motivation?” – Part Two

So in part one I explained how I went from Fifty, Flat, and Flatulent to Lance Armstrong Jr.
And it’s all about motivation. A subject we’re talking about in the Ontario Science Centre workshop on February 27th.
Dr. Jain and I will be talking about the motivation to take on your ADHD and get it managed to the best of your ability. Sticking with it. Compliance. Seeing it through.
But the ideas apply to everything you’re up to.
Now I’d always thought motivation was a “Rah Rah, High Five, Woohoo!” kind of thing. Lots of back slapping and people dumping Gatorade on each other and Thanking “The Big Man Upstairs.” Or the Big Woman. Or some Large Thing somewhere.
But I had a transformative moment about what motivation really is, back in 2005, when I signed up to do a 620 km Charity Bike Rally. From Toronto to Montreal in six days.
The problem was, that once the glow of everyone saying, “Wow! Good for you!” had worn off, I was left with, “What the hell am I doing?! I haven’t been on a bike in years!?”
But I’m doing it for a good cause. A charity.
And it’s my project as part of a course I’m on Team Management & Leadership.
I figure I’m sufficiently motivated so that come Monday morning I’ll be out there on my bike, starting to train. After all, I’m six weeks behind all the other rider, including my wife, who have been training since April.
Monday morning I slept in.
Tuesday morning I got myself on the bike by vowing that I would do this to get in shape and feel good and so on and so on and blah blah blah.
(Like ‘getting in shape’ is going to get me up and onto a bike for four to six hours every weekend. If I wanted to get in shape the treadmill that we bought that ‘folds neatly and stores under your bed’ wouldn’t be folded and stored under the bed.)
After that first day, when I barely made 9 kms, I was using my creativity to invent some really convincing excuses as to why it would be foolhardy and irresponsible for me to attempt this on such short notice, and that next year, when I was more prepared and not so busy…
I needed motivation. 622 Kilometres worth.
I needed a bigger context. More than just doing this rally as part of this course I was in. I mean, I’m gonna be riding sixty miles, and then setting up a tent, camping out for the night, getting up at 6:30 the next morning, packing up the tent & bedroll & our stuff and loading them into the big trucks that carry them to the next campsite, then climbing back in the saddle and pedaling another 60 miles.
For six days straight… What am I thinking!!?
Luckily for me, as soon as I’d told my wife I was going to do the ride with her, I also told some other people. Three of them were so inspired, they said they were going to do it too! One of them, Alysse, got misty eyed. She glowed! She thanked me! I mumbled a “You’re welcome.” This impulsive idea was contagious.
So now I’m a leader. They’re counting on me! Oh great! I can’t back out.
The other thing I did that turned into a really powerful motivation, was sending out an email to friends explaining I was doing this crazy thing and if they wanted, to, you know, make a little pledge, cause it’s for a charity, cause I have to raise $2,000 in pledges in the next two months, ahem…
And BOOM!! The cornucopia erupts!
My hopes of quitting are buried under a pile of pledges.
My brother Mike and his wife Jacquie pledge a big amount.
My friend Steve Smith, a.k.a. Red Green pledges a big amount.
A bunch of other people pledge a $100 or more. And many pledge less.
In less than a day I have surpassed the minimum $2,000 in sponsorship you need to be able to ride. (Damn.) Now I’ve got all these people who are cheering me on. They’re betting on me! To the tune of almost $2,500!
They believe in me! (Dammit! Easy for them. They don’t have to learn to ride a bike while clipped to the pedals.)
The point is that the motivating factors here are not just Rah, Rah, feel good, “High Five!” “Awesome” stuff. There’s people who are pledging money. Real money!
There’s also another trend here. One that you can use to your advantage. It’s that it’s less and less about me.
There are a lot of other people who excited and onboard for me to do this. They’re rooting for me. More than that, they’re actually convinced I can do this.
(In terms of your ADHD, you may want to be more discrete and selective as to who you look to for support. A Charity has a lot less baggage than ‘A mental disorder I’ve had all my life but just found out about.’
So people are excited. Meanwhile, I’m spending a great deal of mental energy trying to dream up a backdoor to get out of this… Something no one can argue with. “Oh, of course, it would silly for you to risk it. Good thinking. Very wise…”
I want an out. I’m still thinking about what’s reasonable. In other words, what I’ve known from the past, my experience. I don’t think that I’m limited or playing small or playing safe in thinking this way, in allowing my thoughts to go, “Really, this is 10 times more than anything you’ve ever attempted.” I’m being sensible. (Or so I tell myself. Telling yourself things is great. You always agree!)
But with so many other people involved in this, in different ways, it is becoming, as I said earlier, less and less about me.
And what I known is possible based on the past.
So the voice in my head that is telling me this is crazy and throwing up a dozen reasons a minute as to why it won’t work… but that voice is growing less and less influential. It doesn’t shut up, mind you. It gets way louder! But it’s got competition. From the many voices of friends and family. And another voice in my head saying, “You can’t let down your friends. Or the charity. Or the people who are doing it because you’re doing it. Or your family…”
Oh, yes, family. I’ll tell you about that in Part 3. (This is becoming longer than the Bike Rally!)