How can I achieve constant motivation?

Hi, I'm a 22yr old student that wants to become a concept artist in the entertainment industry. It is a highly competitive field but since I was a child I always dreamed of being part in the production of a big movie or video game. This is my main goal in life. I have no doubts about it in any way, I would never consider any alternative path. And still I have motivational issues, which I will try to describe now.

As I mentioned the competition and the pressure to work is very high. I love my work but I lack in endurance. You all know as well as me about the highs and lows of human motivation, that's not my point here. I have a problem with discipline, with keeping myself in a hardworking mode (especially when I'm not in a school that pressures me with homework). Basically I'm lazy.

Now don't get me wrong, I know very well what it means to work hard. I put myself through a year in a design school where we had to work an average of 16hrs a day, everyday, no weekends, no holidays, 12 month. Lots of sleepless nights, after just 3 weeks into school our whole class transformed into zombies, we lived just to work. I went through a lot of frustration but man I progressed! Thanks to my motivating teachers, thanks to my classmates who went through the same and finally thanks to me, I realized I really want to do this.

Does this sound controversial to what I wrote in the beginning? To me it does. Now I'm in another school, still working on my portfolio. But I sure waste a lot of time! I sleep too much, I spend too much time on my phone, on facebook, on youtube (oh Conan O'Brian why are you so funny..^^) and just generall daydreaming/not working.
I have a pretty good basic understanding of how the human brain works. The reason why I spend more time on youtube for example is because I'm releasing way more endorphins with a simple click of my mouse than I could produce with an hour of work, so naturally I tend to do the easy-fun solution more often. But knowing the mechanics doesn't make anything easier.

My problem is when I ask myself about my priorities I have everything in order, I know how important it is to me to reach my goal, I know how much it takes to get there and still... when I wake up at 9am (which is already plenty of sleep) why can't I jump out of bed and get my *** to work. Why does this only work once every 10 days? Why can't my brain stay(!) aware of the seriousness of my goal?

There are no motivational quotes or stories that can help. My problem goes beyond that. It's my attitude. I know exactly what I want but I lack the discipline to put it into practice for, and that's the important part, a consistent amount of time. Anyone can motivate themself for a day or a week..

I'm really good at rewarding myself when I achieved something. I'm the best at giving myself a break. I'm horrible at keeping up the pace AFTER I achieved something big. I want to make it part of my personality that I persistently work hard when I need to. I want to get the laziness out of me or at least reduce it to a minimum.

I don't know if you can give me any answers to this. Just know I'm not looking for tips like "It's about how much you're willing to sacrifice" or "It's about if you really really want it or not". I'm looking to change my personality, how to redirect those damn thick and strong neurons in my brain that tell me "It's ok to procastinate a little, you'll still get it done, you always have" or "1 more hour of sleep won't hurt, it never did". I reinforce them everytime I take a break and the once that keep me working stay weak in comparison.

Sorry I'm bad at making it short, but I think you get my problem by now. If you read through all this, thank you very much!

novus

you will have to look at the reality of the situation. there is not much that can be done to change a persons personality. you talk about how desperately you want a job in a highly competitive industry but are only working 1 day out of 10 to get there. do your research and see if this method is going to work. I doubt it will. your title of achieving constant motivation is not possible either. it is ok to sleep in now and then and take breaks. research and find out what it does take to break into the industry. then set your goals. you know from your history that you can work hard, you did it for a year. plan our your goal. youtube goal setting for the appropriate way to set goals and devise a realistic plan. not the 24/7 work, but one that allows for some sleeping in and entertainment. you don't want to set yourself up for failure. and then forge ahead.

Thank you for your reply and your advise, I appreciate it!

I agree with most of what you said, but not all. I think it is possible to achieve constant motivation. I realized I set up a goal for myself but I didn't solve the Why question, which is the ultimate source for motivation. I know now that I wanna succeed today, because I don't want that regret a few years from now that I could have worked harder, I don't want to live my life on 90%.
Also there is no balanced lifestyle on the road to success. My teachers told me that back in school and I only half believed them. Other successful people say that aswell, there is no compromise, nice middle road that brings fun and real success at the same time, it's either one or the other. I realize that now.
Of course health is ultimately always first priority, but people (me included) are so scared of being tired and burned out that they never even try to work harder. And yes I'm setting myself for failure, a lot of it, but I've seen what happens when people keep trying and don't give up.

Thanks again for this forum, it gave me a plattform to write my thoughts down which helped a lot. You can close this thread if you wish, I'll keep reading it tho.

I wish I knew the answer to this. I don't think it is just a personality issue. In my 20s, I pursued my goals with extreme determination: career, education, financial targets, and creative projects. I chose work and getting things done over sleep. 7 years ago that stopped. I am not sure why. I burnt out career-wise and my mind seemed to deaden with regard to creative endeavors. Why? Or more importantly, how can I get back to the way I was?

Future time orientation is very important when it comes to achieving goals. Being able to resist the urge to enjoy short term pleasures in favor of reaching long term targets.

That's it, that's what it comes down to. I can only recommend that you figure out your "WHY" again, that's the source of motivation. I realized all the years my only answer to my WHY was "Well, it's gonna be nice once I made it". That's not enough, that doesn't get one out of bed, that doesn't keep one from wasting time during the day. Everybody has their own why, maybe you do it for your family, maybe you made a promise, whatever it is, find it out.
The WHY never changes, you stick to it, that's how you get constant motivation.

I've slept 8hrs since I started this thread, haven't wasted an hour and man it feels good!

You go, keep up with that productivity streak!

I think part of the issue for me is that there never really was a why. A friend made a comment "You're always preparing for a future that never arrives." It made me wake up and change some aspects of how I was living - and so now instead of being stressed about not having enough time to accomplish everything, I am stressed about the ways I waste time. It's like trading one problem for another

I got ya. I was stressed about myself aswell wasting time, which is good because stress makes you change, otherwise we wouldn't be on this forum.
I noticed that the only thing that makes the self accusations go away is when you do what you want to do and don't stop. In every human there's a little voice, dreaming about a bright future and it wants us to get there. Most people shut that voice. They shut it with "reason" which esentially are excuses for not making the sacrifice. I've been shutting it most of my life and got used to it, that's where the fuel for the self accusations comes from.

Never worry about time. You're still alive so you still got time to accomplish whatever you want. And even if in the end you don't manage to accomplish everything, you'll still live a happier life when you know that you tried a 100% to do so.

Everytime I'm low, this guy mentally kicks me in the butt, he's great:
.. ok, not allowed to post links yet, just instert this after the slash of youtube.com/
watch?v=CDFC16ptx-0

I think your brain wants to do what you want to do. Saying you want to work hard is not the same as wanting to work hard, enjoying the work. Make the work "fun" for you instead of so "serious" (which, for me at least, translates into "scary" and I run the other way). Don't accent the competition, you are in it for you, only. Accent what you want to do and then do it.

I think you simply burned out from that one year of constant work, but somehow are in denial of the burnout.

At least this is the simplest explanation - the first thing that comes to mind.

Also, you might be overanalyzing and just being a bit too cerebral for your own good - everybody knows that it is impossible to be constantly motivated, and they know it intuitively and intuitively have gotten it right, without ever having read a single word about neurons. So maybe relaxing a bit and going with the flow + implement the many helpful tips from this thread, and you would be OK. Reading satirical or humorous pieces would be helpful for you as well, or simply watching funny videos on youtube - whatever takes the cerebral edge off your internal process.