How to keep your motivation high despite delays you can't control?

Keeping the flame burning over time

Keeping motivation high in the face of delays you can’t control has always been one of my greatest challenges. In my life, I had the honor and privilege of leading many creative projects. Some, if not most, were big and complex, stretching over long periods and few continents.

In such cases, it was always a challenge to keep the inspiration flame burning in the face of setbacks and delays, which were always part of the process. This is a challenge we all face.

Applying for a new job or position, you go through assessments and interviews and have to wait for responses. Same with auditions. When you apply for a grant or funding, you wait to know if you got it or not; it takes time, weeks, or months. The stories of great authors submitting their work and having to wait for years to publish it abound; just look at Elizabeth Gilbert, Steven Pressfield, and J. K. Rowling. to name a few.

What to do during these waiting times? How not to lose face and continue with your work in spite of delays you cannot control?

Always be ready

“The time to prepare isn’t after you have been given the opportunity. It’s long before that opportunity arises. once the opportunity arrives, it’s too late to prepare.” Says coach John Wooden.

He should know. He won 10 national championships as head coach for the UCLA Bruins in a 12-year period. Do you know how long he has been their head coach before that? 16 years. These 16 years and many years after, he invested all his time and energy in preparation.

“Focus all your effort on what is in your power to control. Conditioning is one of those things, how your mind functions is another.” This brings me to the next point. Mindset.

Cultivate a positive – productive mindset

It’s easy to let any natural resistance to our work creep in when delays we can’t control prevent us from going forward. It enhances any internal resistance you may already have. Be it procrastination, impostor syndrome, lack of confidence, or negative beliefs you may harbor.

This is why you have to cultivate a positive – productive mindset based on these 3 basic suppositions:

– I have done my best, I am doing my best, and I will continue to do my best to get this show on the road.

– I do not waste valuable time and energy on things beyond my control. Instead, I perfect my preparations for the best positive outcome.

– I trust my heart, the process, and my team to bring this to fruition.

If any of these assumptions feel strange or make your heart cringe, look at it seriously and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Why do I feel this way about this?

2. What can I do right now to change the feeling I have about this?

I hope this helps, let me know in the comments below.

One more important point to assess is your overall Optimal Performance, it has tremendous influence over your mindset. Checking it out and proceeding to improve it, can immediately lift your motivation and change the way you face any delays or setbacks you can’t control.