Some Thoughts on Motivation and “Getting Started”

1. Problems vs. situations. There’s a hard line between things you can solve (problems) and things you must accept (situations, like gravity). Most stuckness comes from treating a situation like a problem — or ignoring an actual solvable problem because it's easier to feel victimized.

2. The "not" is usually a hidden "but." We get paralyzed wanting two incompatible things at once ("I want to get fit, but I don't want to feel sore or make time for it"). Naming the "but" out loud dissolves the paralysis. Swapping "but" for "and" turns a trap into a commitment ("I want to get fit, and that means showing up tired some mornings").

3. Purpose = who, specifically. Not everyone. Trying to please an imagined mass audience creates the "amorphous, heavy blanket" of stuckness. Godin's fix: find the smallest viable group you can actually help, and orient toward them.

4. Resistance is universal — the move is to shrink the step. Whether it's writer's block or skipping the gym, resistance shows up as a feeling, not a fact. Break the intimidating goal down to the smallest doable action (your next-door neighbor). Naming resistance out loud takes its power away.

5. Practice over outcome — "throwing, not catching." Juggling fails when people focus on catching (the outcome). Get good at the throw — the repeatable action — and the catches (results) take care of themselves.

6. Sunk costs are gifts you're allowed to decline. A past decision (a lease, a degree, a job) doesn't obligate you to keep paying for it emotionally. Ask: "Knowing what I know now, would I choose this today?" If not, forgive your past self and move on.

7. The Dip vs. the cul-de-sac. Some hard stretches (the Dip) are normal and everyone who succeeds passes through them — push through those. But if there's no evidence more effort will get you to the other side, it's a dead end — quit that.

8. Consistency beats "authenticity." Professionals make a promise and keep it, even on days they don't feel like it. Authenticity is for friends and family; showing up reliably is what builds trust with everyone else.

9. Control (even small control) drives wellbeing. The hospice/painkiller and nursing-home plant studies show that feeling agency — not just having more resources — improves satisfaction and even physical outcomes.

How OMW Members Can Apply This

Since OMW (Member Wellness Co.) is a member-owned wellness community built on transparency, shared savings, and collective health goals, several of Godin's ideas map directly onto everyday member habits:

  • Turn vague wellness goals into a "who." Instead of "I should be healthier," members can name the smallest specific group or person they're doing it for — a spouse, a grandkid, their future self at 75. This is the same shift Godin describes: purpose needs a "who," not just a wish.

  • Name the "but" behind stalled habits. "I want to take my supplements consistently, but I forget by 9pm" — swapping to "and" ("I want consistency, and I'm going to keep them next to my coffee maker") turns excuse into design.

  • Use the community for accountability, not just savings. "I'll talk you through my knot, you talk me through yours" — is exactly what OMW's member webinars and shared-ownership structure can become: a place members hold each other accountable on habits, not just split supplement costs.

  • Practice over outcome. Rather than chasing a scale number or a lab result (catching), members can build the throw — a repeatable daily practice (the same walk, the same stack, the same sleep window) and trust that outcomes follow.

  • Reframe setbacks as the Dip, not failure. Missing a week of workouts or falling off a routine isn't proof it's not working — it's often the expected hard stretch. The question worth asking: is there evidence more consistency gets me through this, or is this genuinely not working for my life?

  • Lean into small, controllable choices. OMW members' small acts of agency — voting on new supplements, choosing their own stack in onboarding, tracking their own dosage — aren't just nice features. They're likely doing real psychological work toward better outcomes, independent of the products themselves.

  • Consistency, not perfection, builds trust — with yourself and the community. Members don't need a "perfect" health routine; they need one they can keep promising themselves and actually keep.