Can’t Motivate Yourself to Wake Up Every Morning?
Rediscover what truly motivates you with this simple exercise
Have you ever struggled to motivate yourself to wake up everyday? A lot of us fall into this robotic routine: wake up, go to work, sleep, and repeat five days a week. Then comes the weekend—we enjoy it, only to dread Monday’s arrival again.
We repeat this cycle for years. Our pay increases, and so do our expenses. Some of us get married, buy a car or a house, and maybe even have kids. Before long, you realize you can’t afford to “quit” the job you once loved because of hefty monthly commitments—car installments, mortgage payments, insurance, and other big-ticket items split into monthly repayments.
You start complaining about your job, your boss, or comparing yourself to high-performing peers. Sometimes you wonder, “I was smarter than person X in school. How come they’re doing what they love and earning a good living?” At least, that’s what their social media shows.
To be honest, as I write this, I still struggle to wake up every day and find what truly motivates me in life. I know this is something I need to figure out, so I try to read non-fiction books for inspiration. Let me share a great tip that I learned from a book I read recently.
A Simple Exercise
I learned this simple exercise from a book called Will It Fly? by Pat Flynn. This book teaches us how to validate a business idea before fully committing to it.
The thing is, in this society—especially when we’re young—we’re always taught by our parents that:
If you work hard, you will get what you deserve.While there’s some truth to that, it’s not always the case.
Personally, I agree that working hard is the bare minimum for success, but you need to work hard on the right things. For example, let’s say you have a full-time job and come up with a brilliant idea while showering one day. You then dedicate all your free time and spare cash to it, but six months later (if you’re persistent enough), you realize that it’s “not working.” Then, you quit and move on to the next idea. After repeating this a few times, you might start labeling yourself as “someone who can’t do business.”
Of course, I’d say this is still a relatively “mild” example because, even if you try and fail, you still have your full-time job income to fall back on if things don’t go your way.
Now imagine you quit your job and dedicate all your time and savings to your “big idea” for 1–2 years. Unfortunately, after 1–2 years of grinding, you discover that it was a product that only you would buy.
This is where this book comes in to help avoid such situations. But today, I’m not here to promote the book. Instead, I want to share one of its exercises that I found transformational: The Airport Test.
The Airport Test
The key idea is pretty simple. Imagine it’s five years from now, and you’re at an airport. You bump into an old friend, and they casually ask you:
How have you been?Your response is:
Amazing! Life couldn’t be better!And when you say this, you truly MEAN it—not just trying to impress your friend.
Now ask yourself:
What makes you say that?
What would need to happen for you to feel that way?
If you’re feeling a bit lost now or think your life could be better, this exercise can help you figure out what really matters.
Step-by-Step Guide
Grab a piece of blank A4 paper or use the template I’ve made for you here.
Divide the paper into four quadrants. What do you put in each quadrant? You can write about the things that matter most to you! For example, I labeled mine as Family, Professional, Health, and Wealth. Yours might be different.
In each quadrant, list what would make you say, “Life couldn’t be better.” For example, under Family, I wrote:
Lunch/dinner once a week with my parents and siblings
Quality time with my wife every evening
If I have kids, attending all their events and witnessing their growth
Annual family trips
Write down everything that comes to mind, even if it feels unrealistic right now.
Repeat for the other quadrants. This will help you identify what you value most.
Take a picture of the paper with your phone. Store it somewhere safe or stick it in a private place where you’ll see it every day.
Reverse Engineer Your Goals
Once you’re done (I really hope you do this immediately after reading the article instead of thinking):
Nah, I’ll do it later when I have time-you know how that will end...Ask yourself:
If I keep doing what I’m doing now, will I realistically achieve these goals in five years?
What changes do I have to make to get there?
This simple exercise will help uncover what you truly want and guide you toward doing work that matters the most. At the end of the day, we all want to wake up motivated every day to do what we love! I hope this exercise helps you to figure out what to focus in your life. If you find it helpful, feel free to drop your comments or reply to this email—I read every reply.
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