In the past, I’ve often been motivated by fear or worry. Worry about health. Suddenly eat better for a few days. Worry about a deadline. Work to exhaustion. Worry about passing a test. Cram for hours the day before. Fear tends to get us going on some level, but it makes a terrible foundation.
A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how doing hard things (like math) can be made easier by practising it consistently. I made the point that being consistent can be very hard, but if we can manage to be consistent, hard things can become easier. This has been my experience.
When we’re always being chased around by fear, we never end up making lasting changes. Firstly, fear makes us ineffective in the moment. It might motivate us initially but it’s really difficult to act intelligently when you’re anxious or panicked. Secondly, fear doesn’t allow us to build a foundation of consistency because when the fear recedes, we fall back into old patterns. Using the math example: It’s hard to do math when you’re anxious about a test the next day. Additionally, when the fear of failing eventually does recede after the test, there’s nothing to motivate us and no consistency to fall back on.
This is a bad approach. Fear is the wrong foundation for lasting change.