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Originally Posted by riemann  Hi,
I'm a graduate student and my work requires great intensity and concentration; however, I can only summon this intensity when confronted by imminent dire consequences. This means that I have one month on and then three months off, then one month on again, and so on. At this rate I'm headed for failure since my overall pace is not nearly fast enough. So the question is: how do I maintain intensity from one month to the next, independent of the level of external stresses?
Systems such as GTD tend to result in reduction of intensity for me, which kills my output since sustained concentration is key for my work (simply putting in the time just doesn't cut it). So I guess I'm looking for a "spiritual" answer to help my perspective on reality during the off months resemble that of my on months. Thanks. |
Perhaps this is spiritual, it might relate to something Steve writes about, that it is tough to succeed if we are only doing it for ourselves, for our own ego. In his words, our "own satisfaction is very weak motivation." See what I mean? Maybe we need to work for the satisfaction and service of someone or something more than ourselves in order to be "love-centered" and
succeed (rather than being failures driven by fears of pain and punishment being inflicted on our limited little egos).
Even more spiritually, you should think about doing meditation and balancing and cleansing your chakras. You might learn a lot about your energy and motivations from that.
Just for example, the feelings I get when I think about my ideal girl is what motivates me. She is no ordinary girl, of course. She has the kindest heart and soul, and she is highly intelligent, motivated, compassionate, caring, and sweet. Sure, she might only exist in my head (subjective reality -- so does everything else, haha), but, hey, it works. When I vividly see her smile and smell her skin, I feel my intensity surge and I can study forever or do anything I have on my list -- I take immediate action, I get totally absorbed in my work, I enjoy it, time doesn't even matter, and I feel unstoppable. It's kind of tough to describe, but for her love I get the urge to achieve and it drives me like a fire. Have you ever read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, specifically the section about transmuting sexual energy? I can assure you there is something to this.