Motivation — it’s a challenge. Some days it’s more of a challenge than others. Today is one of those days. I decided I’d rather write a blog post about it than write the paper that’s due for a class.

The Weekend Executive MBA program requires a fair amount of time studying, writing papers, and doing practice problems. It really does take 15 – 25 hours per week of study time, and sometimes it seems like there’s a mountain of work to do, and not enough time to do it. There are times when it’s overwhelming.

This is when I have to remind myself to take a break and simply breathe. I remind myself of the end goal and what I’m trying to achieve, but also what I’ve already accomplished. That helps to get me motivated, but it’s not always easy, and sometimes I have to bribe myself with chocolates or Oreo cookies and milk, or just a walk outside — sometimes I write a blog post or do a few chores. Sometimes, I will procrastinate by planning vacations to fun places — Paris, Jamaica, a cruise?

I am a fairly self-motivated person, and I’ve been trying to live by The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The one that comes to mind the most is the concept of “sharpening the blade”– conscientiously taking time off, and focusing my energy and mind on something else, and relaxing just a bit, so that I can return to the task at hand more focused and energetic. My largest motivators are graduating with the MBA, advancing in my career, and showing my daughters how it’s done. 🙂 Then I return to my desk with my mind cleared, focused, and re-energized to do the school task that’s at hand, and push through the pain because it really is worth it. As a result of the MBA program, I’m going places I could have only dreamed of before, and accomplishing things that I wouldn’t have believed possible before.

My business acumen and leadership abilities have increased, I’ve learned about many facets of business. Suddenly, those executive decisions which seemed so counter-intuitive before make a lot more sense, and I understand how decisions are being made, and the reasoning behind them. So, on that note, I have to get back to that paper on leadership …