The way the human mind works is filled with paradoxes. We think in order to solve problems, but then once the problems are solved we stop thinking about them because we feel there’s no need to think about them any longer. We file the problem away in a drawer labeled “solved”. It could be said that the whole reason we think about stuff is so that we can stop thinking about it. This can be a good thing… it also has its drawbacks

Computer technology is an amazing thing. Tasks which once took up piles of brainpower can now, with the help of a few processors smaller than the size of a thumb nail, be completed with the push of a few buttons. Take flying an aircraft. To get that huge piece of metal from one point of the globe to another takes hundreds of calculations regarding speed, altitude and direction. Years ago it would have required the full-time attentions of a pilot and navigator, armed with paper maps and keen eye, and, if the flight was a long one, a good supply of coffee, no doubt.

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Sometimes we can change our environment much more easily than we can change our thinking. It’s a good way to achieve motivation. And one of the simplest things to change is the people we spend time with.

If you’re interested in motivation, you’re no doubt always on the lookout for motivational tools—ways of achieving something or just making you feel ready to do something. When we do, we’re often looking for one of the various types of intrinsic motivation (motivation that comes from within). But intrinsic motivation can have its roots in extrinsic motivation (motivation from without), and sometimes extrinsic motivation is easier to get because you can find it easier to change your external environment than to change your feelings.

The good news is that there’s a very simple motivational tool we can use, and one that can have a profound effect on our lives at that. It takes practically no effort once it’s set in motion, and is actually enjoyable to use—fun, even.

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