You might make the argument that if you’re currently happy, why make any changes? This is the demon of procrastination inside you trying to convince you that the status quo is “good enough”. The problem is that the status quo cannot be maintained indefinitely. There is a universal law of nature that states without the expenditure of energy, the universe decays into a state of disorder and inactivity. The same happens in your life. Without a conscious effort to make changes that increase value, you will lose value over time. So the real culprit is laziness, many times caused by fear of failure or rejection.
You don’t become the person you aspire to be or achieve your plans because the effort in the moment is greater than your comfort level. There are three possibilities that can cause you to overcome this lack of action and become motivated.
The first is to use fear itself as a motivating factor. This happens when the fear of the consequences for inaction becomes greater than the fear of failure or laziness. This is why people who enable addicts will never see them change. The consequences are never realized or feared.
The second is giving another person control over the enforcement of consequences instead of holding yourself accountable. While this may seem like an admission of failure to control yourself, it can be very helpful as a transition to self-control. There is a reason for trust funds!
The third and most powerful mechanism is the exercise of ambition. Ambition sets goals for the future that are so aggressive that they cannot be reached without change and are so attractive that they are worth sacrificing temporary comfort or pleasure for. For example, saving money for a new house, a wedding or a car might drive someone in their 20s to take action.
