You know what you want to write in that article—you just don’t quite feel like writing it yet. You keep telling yourself you’ll start writing once you’re feeling more motivated. The document is open and the cursor is blinking… Does this sound familiar?
Dr Kelly Martinez, a clinical psychologist from Queen’s University Belfast says: If we wait to feel motivated, we may be waiting a long time! If we instead rely on something more stable than feelings – values, or what’s truly important to us – then we can use that to help us to take action when it’s needed. And it is a well-known (and empirically supported!) tenet that action precedes motivation.
Some references:
Harris, R. (2022). The happiness trap: How to stop struggling and start living (2nd ed.). Shambhala.
Jacobson, N. S., Dobson, K. S., Truax, P. A., Addis, M. E., Koerner, K., Gollan, J. K., Gortner, E., & Prince, S. E. (1996). A component analysis of cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(2), 295–304. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.64.2.295
Prinzing, M. (2024). Proenvironmental behavior increases subjective well-being: Evidence from an experience-sampling study and a randomized experiment. Psychological Science, 35(9), 951–961. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241251766