Dreams Start With Patience #50

Reading time: 6 minutes

How do you choose to create in this era of intrinsic motivation vs. extrinsic motivation awareness?

What about immediate gratification vs. delayed gratification?

My name is Zachariah Rock, for the past two years, I've studied how we as human beings are motivated by creativity and productivity.

At first, we see these fields as widely separate.

The opposite is true.

Everyone can be productive, but there is this idea that only a "chosen" group of people is creative.

"Maybe they're born with it?", I've heard time and time again.

I'm here to prove that idea wrong.

Everyone is creative, just like how everyone can be a productivity guru.

It all starts with a clear mindset.

You've probably heard that saying.

But, there's truth.

Your beliefs determine your behavior.

In creativity, your belief system of the creation process is directly tied to how perfectly you see the art.

The kicker?

You need a sense of longevity to create anything worthwhile.

If it's not a challenge, you won't create a routine jam-packed with flow.

If it's too hard, you despise doing the work.

We're all lazy (naturally of course), and the best way to discover who you are and what you want out of life is to try things that scare you.

Intrinsic motivation is a great way of doing just that.

When something scares the shit out of you, resistance pops out of the woodwork.

If you're capable of doing said action ignoring the fear, results will come.

With motivation, we have two main ideas.

What are you motivated by? 

For me, my values motivate me. 

But it's deeper than just my values.

It's internal recognition of my pre-disposed lifestyle.

I love to write, but only when my conditions are near perfect.

I love to read, but only because I want to better my mindset and work out my brain.

Chances are you love to read, but don't read as much as you know you should.

That's okay, we live in a vast world of media to consume.

The important part is that you stay on the path of learning.

Learning is one principle of the intrinsic creator.

Because if your beliefs are that of a fixed belief system.

You will soon realize that stagnation leads to paralysis in growth and thinking.

To write is to think.

To think is to believe.

To believe is to trust.

To trust is to exist.

Exist as one with the challenge of improvement in front of you.

If the goal is to realign your creator-self, the why must be concrete with the actualization of self.

We go above and beyond in this era, we also choose to ignore so much of what is useful and obsess over what is meaningless.

Where do you reside?

What mental models do you use to develop yourself and further develop your art?

I use my value system again for the best results.

Example:

If I don't wake up early enough, my peak performance for creativity and productivity is in sync with my busy work day.

The busy work day is just that...

Busy...

With limited time and numerous distractions, the most valuable thing I can do is prioritize my time and energy cycles by focusing on self-development first thing in the morning.

As a creator who prioritizes achievement within productivity.

The most difficult path forward is one of consistency.

Why?

When struggle presents itself to the individual, the mind wants the path of least resistance.

Oftentimes, the resilience to work is not enjoyable.

This is because your brain constantly wants to do more of whatever it is that you sink the most hours into.

The guy obsessed with cars?

The woman obsessed with gossip?

It's because it's their default mode of action.

They enjoy it because they do it more than most people they know. 

It's almost as if the wiring in their neural circuits now results in the manifestation of higher baseline levels of dopamine when doing their preferred action.

But of course, over time we all get burnt out if we're not consciously aligned with our life path.

It's easier than ever to be misled as well.

It's also easier than ever to lock in and start to grind.

Okay, as a writer I do have a disclaimer. 

I'm terrible at this and I've failed more times than I can count.

I'm always being drained of my energy and time because of a lack of prioritization towards my values.

I'm only human, I don't claim to have the perfect plan or direction for my life.

But, we all share the inevitable extrinsic motivation.

Human beings are thought to be motivated by a few things:

-Power (aka money)

-Sex (also a power thing)

-Love (food and water play a role here)

When you are motivated by these it's natural. 

Most of the time this is what is defined as the extrinsic struggle.**

These are powerful, extrinsic motivation plays a necessary part in the survival mechanisms built into us.

Without money, you can't exist in society as a functioning member.

Without sex, you can't replicate your cells and DNA to protect your bloodline.

Without love, you will feel as if life is black and white without any nuance.

Without food, water, and shelter you couldn't hope to survive the elements and famine.

But, the thing is...

If you're reading this, you are probably pretty good at being extrinsically motivated. 

When you do something without an incentive as to why you're doing it.

It looks difficult from an outside perspective.

But, from the insider who is participating.

There is nothing more rewarding or fulfilling.

Let's talk about the generative drive.

The generative drive is the idea of contributing to something out of the pure desire to see it grow, regardless of incentives.

The generative drive is the force multiplier in relationships.

Every relationship, even between you and me looks like this.

Agency (the ability to take action without being forced to) 

Gratitude (the appreciation of action or feeling)

With agency + gratitude, we have this idea of "us" now.

I provide you with my thoughts clearly and concisely.

You understand that I've helped you think of the world differently.

Potentially reaching out to me, wanting to buy me a coffee or dinner.

See? It's not always about making money, having sex, or being loved.

Intrinsic motivation is actually what makes the concept of friendship so great.

You're not motivated by these extrinsic factors when you want to hang out with your friends.

Can the awareness of cognitive biases help with intrinsic motivation?

Well, yes obviously.

If you are aware that you judge people based on the amount of money they make in comparison to you.

You begin to see that everything you do is forged around the idea of getting rich.

I see this more in young men than anyone.

Let's use the signal-to-noise razor, or as George Mack named it "The Bragging Razor”

When this razor is in play it will help you realize when someone is being humble or when they are bragging.

Which occurs when extrinsic motivation is the leading driver.

If someone is truly happy.

They are going to downplay their happiness.

For instance, "I'm the happiest I've ever been! I'm feeling so good, you should try to be more positive like me and maybe you'll be happy"

This looks at first glance that said person is genuinely happy about their life.

But, why do they feel the need to make it so obvious that they are indeed happy..

Well, the same goes for the "rich".

If someone flaunts their wealth, it's usually an indicator that they're pretending to be rich.

It's easy to lose money, by pretending to be something you're not.

On the inverse, let's study.

If you ask someone, how much money do you make in a year?

They go, "Eh, I do alright for myself. It's not all too important"

If they downplay whatever it is:

-Money

-Happiness

-Success

It's because there is a societal punishment for those who are what they say they are.

Bragging isn't fun for those who are forced to listen.

It's like when beginner traders in crypto make a freakishly degenerate trade and end up getting lucky.

Now, they start teaching people how to trade even though they have less than a few months of experience.

Then, someone gets their face melted off based on the calls said person makes and they get all the blame.

Well, what did you expect?

You're following someone's conviction rather than the undeniable proof stack they may or may not have.

Life is about being humble and considering your moderation.

Moderation is the highest form of intrinsic motivation.

You realize, “if I overindulge.”

I might lose it all.

The truth of this is our ability to communicate.

Everything is always being judged or critiqued. 

So, if you are wealthy.

I advise you to shut up about it.

Downplay more, because nobody wants to hear about how you have bigger pockets than they do.

But, if you do it the right way. You'll invoke some curiosity in others and signal subconsciously that you're trying to not be an asshole.

Authenticity in work. 

How it relates to the intrinsic creator.

Okay, so if intrinsic motivation is what drives us.

We love to create because this sense of creation fulfills us.

Then it's simple.

Anytime we are creating without authenticity in our work, we are doing ourselves a disservice.

Now, with our personal brands, we must have values.

All brands have values.

Personal (for you) - brand (what makes you stand out).

This is required to go in the right direction.

My values are:

-Integrity

-Family

-Freedom

There is nothing I care about more than those 3 values.

In my everyday life, I make every decision through the lens of these ideals.

Integrity is massive regarding how I conduct business and focus on my work ethic.

I don't want to copy others, I don't want to be something I'm not.

The authenticity will show up in your:

-Writing

-Photography

-Design

-Interests

-Passions

-Introspection.

Note:

For everything you do, you will be imitating someone though.

Humans have survived through idea replication in our offspring.

Whether genetic off-spring or mental off-spring, sometimes both.

For authenticity to take place (consistently of course), you need to choose a desire.

The desire to get better for the sake of testing your potentiality against your reality is the most noble of all desires.

Defining your potential and creating a vision for it matters.

That vision is your compass on the high seas. 

If your vision doesn't align with your values, you won't showcase your authentic self and thoughts.

Now, we have a choice.

Much like everyone has choices in life.

Our choice is to stay on the path regardless of whatever temptation we have. 

Thinking vertically is hard.

Speaking horizontally is also complex.

But, when you combine the two skills here, you get much better at communicating your vision.

Those visions force you to actualize whether you're aware of it or not.

Our dreams play a huge role in our ability to sense patience moving forward.

You could easily delegate this task to a life coach or ChatGPT. 

But wouldn't you lose your ability to be human if you delegated your dreams?

Dreams start with patience, this I believe to be a fact.

To build off of this idea I've long held onto it since my hardcore photography days.

Visions start with dreams. 

You must be aware of the dreams you hold dearly and not let them die a brutal, malicious death.

You are the creator of your universe.

This universe of course is your perspective and the paradigm of perspective -> reality is one of mystery.

I am a simple man:

-Coffee

-Early mornings of work

-Enjoyable days with family and friends.

That's it.

That's the dream.

Of course, I'm a caffeine addict because I constantly want an edge on what I'm doing.

We look at everything specifically as problems.

The problem you might have as an intrinsic creator is being drawn towards trends.

Thanks for reading!

Another way I can help you when you are ready.
1. Work with me! Coaching for writing and recording long-form content

2. The Patience Paradigm (curiosity → passion course)
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   Your friend who wants nothing but the best for your creative journey.
   -Zachariah

(p.s. I’ve been working on a new method of writing my newsletters, I hope you enjoyed)