Using principles from BJ Fogg and George Leonard, this deck examines motivation, what causes it and how to best use it to effect behavior change.

1. &
motivation mastery

2. You resolve to make a change for the better in your life.
You tell your friends about it. You put your resolution in writing.
You actually make the change. It works. It feels good. You’re
happy about it. Your friends are happy about it.
Your life is better.
And then, you backslide.

3. Why?
Are you some kind of slob who has no willpower?
Not necessarily. Backsliding is a universal experience.
From George Leonard’s Mastery

4. You can attribute it to the Motivation Wave.
Motivation
Time
What is a motivation wave?
A motivation wave represents the natural high and lows that people
experience with their motivation as time goes by.
See BJ Fogg on Motivation Wave

5. In the book Mastery, George Leonard describes four
archetypes to doing anything. The dabbler, the obsessive, the
hacker and the master.
The Dabbler starts with enthusiasm, makes rapid The Obsessive starts with robust progress. When
progress but then gives up after the first falloff in faced with a plateau, he redoubles efforts. This leads
performance and plateau. Then he is off to the next to sharp highs and lows until the big drop-off.
thing.
The Master stays on the path to mastery. He
The Hacker gets a hang of something
sees brief bursts of progress, each of which is
and then happily stays on the plateau
followed by a slight decline to a plateau higher
forever.
than the one before.
From George Leonard’s Mastery

6. Instead of seeing these as fixed types, we can see them as
different modes.
We dabble, we obsess, we hack and on occasion, we master
different things.
These curves then reflect the shapes of our motivation waves.

7. Can we anticipate motivation waves?
If we can, we can also buffet ourselves against the lows.
Following is what I think.

8. Initiation starts with a dissonance event
INITIATION
A dissonance event is something that gives you a new perspective on something you
want to do, but is at odds with your current approach to it.
It can be something as simple as tweet asking you to do a neck stretch, to something
as life changing as marriage or death.
The magnitude of motivation is directly proportional to the gravity of the event.

9. Continuation happens when expectations are met
CONTINUATION
If the results are up to our expectations our motivation is maintained. For example, if
tennis game improves as expected, the motivation level is maintained.

10. Amplification happens with breakthroughs and breakdowns
AMPLIFICATION
When we hit a breakthrough, the wave is amplified. Often a breakdown leads to
increased resolve and will also amplifies it.

11. Decline happens due to plateaus
DECLINE
Plateaus represent moments where you are not making expected progress and feel
stuck. This might cause a steady decrease in motivation.

12. Fall-offs happen due to extended plateaus. They may also
happen due to breakdowns and even successes
FALL-OFF
When people are stuck on a plateau for a while, their motivation may see a steep dip.
Breakdowns, while they can amplify can also attenuate. Interestingly, when people
have reached a level they are satisfied with, their motivation may also drop.

13. Don’t fight the wave. Ride the wave.
Knowing that such waves are natural, the only way to be on the path
to mastery, or sustained behavior change, is to ride these waves and
not fight them. Three good pieces of advice from the work of BJ
Fogg & George Leonard.
Take a step back. BJ Fogg says that ability, not motivation is the key to behavior
change. When your motivation is low, do something easier and simpler. For example,
run 10 minutes instead of 30.
Build a support system. We are social animals. As George Leonard says ‘you can
do it alone, but it helps a great deal to have other people with whom you share the joys
and perils of the change you are making’.
Make it a habit. This is not as easy as it sounds but it relates back to taking a step
back. As long as you keep doing something you will find an upswing in the motivation
wave.

14. Essential Reading
Behaviour Design Principles by BJ Fogg
Mastery by George Leonard
Send feedback this way:
Ashish Goel
@ashpodel