The science of sticking with it

(And also, not sticking with it...)

I’ve had a lot of ideas over the years. Big, ambitious ideas.

Courses. Businesses. Passion projects. Morning / meditation / fitness / cooking routines I *swore* I’d keep up.

And if I’m being honest? I’ve abandoned a lot of them, too.

Not because I didn’t care, or because I lacked talent, or because I wasn’t willing to work for it—but because I, like so many others, had internalised a lie.

A lie that tells us that motivation is the key to success. That if you really want something, you should just be able to push through, to grind, to force your way forward on nothing but willpower and a vision board.

And for a while, I believed it. (Disclaimer: We still love a vision board).

When willpower isn’t enough

The thing about motivation? Not unlike inspiration, she can be a fickle minx. Some days, she’s there, bright and buzzing. Other days, she’s elusive — vanishing like mist, leaving nothing but a pile of unfinished drafts, half-hearted attempts, and a gnawing sense of guilt in her wake.

I used t…