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[AllThingsLive]

Okay, this is going to be a long winded, wordy, ridiculous topic, so brace yourself.
So, I've been listening to the Joe Rogan podcast a lot recently, and I think it's amazing the things these guys talk about. Recently Timothy Ferriss was on one of the episodes and this dude was pointed out to be extremely productive and motivated. This guy finds an interest in something, and he pursues it. It might be weird, it might be out of the way, it might be unconventional, it might be stressful, it might even be painful, but this guy does the things that he has interest in. Joe Rogan and this guy are both mind blowing to me, especially since I come from a family where, when you have a problem with yourself, you just let it fester and grow, and that couldn't be more unhealthy to do as a human being. So, I have been blowing off my life so far, and I'm done with it. I'm 15, and I haven't done shit. Joe Rogan was doing to Taekwondo tournaments, and Tim Ferriss was pursuing whatever interest he had at the time to the highest degree, because of great support from his parents. These guys have interests, and they turn them into passions/hobbies, and I want that. I get A's in school, I really strive to do well in school, it's something that I've been programmed to just feel obligated to do. Sometimes I get home and watch 10 minutes of YouTube videos,  have a snack, and then sit down for 6 or more hours straight, and just crank out homework, the whole time with all the focus and interest in the world. I really need to be able to do the same for other things.
I want to learn to draw, I want to learn to play the guitar, I want to get ripped (Workout), I want to make YouTube videos, I want learn about philosophy, I want to learn about psychology, I want to learn about anatomy, and I want to learn about computer science and computer programming. I've tried to do these things, but I lose motivation very quickly. I start doing a Let's Play series, and eventually I lose motivation and delete the account, or I start reading about psychology, then I remember that new video game trailer, and I go watch that and completely ignore psychology for a the next couple months. I have interests in these things, but I don't have the motivation to intensely pursue and accomplish them.
So, getting down to the meat of the question here, I NEED some tips, or more preferably books, on getting down to it and pursuing your interests.
What especially bugs me is that I have that intense motivation when it comes to schoolwork, but when I get to the things I have a genuine interest in, the motivation just peters off.

[Agorp Stronden]

Doctor's prescription:
Stare at trees for an hour everyday.

END TOPIC

[Vector]

There's this joke.

A guy's bought tickets to a performance in New York, but he's lost... and he calls down this dude and he says:

"How do I get to Carnegie Hall?"

And the guy says: "Practice, practice, practice!"


How do you think?

Thoughtfully.

How do you take care?

Carefully.


You don't need any books.  Schoolwork right now has a system of rewards: you work hard and you get an A, and you feel good about yourself.  What you need is to find the seed within yourself that remembers how to be a child and flail around curiously like a jellyfish, and no book can tell you how to do that.

So think--thoughtfully, and be diligent--diligently.  That's the true path, and the secret is that you already know it.  Asking for books is just another way to avoid motivation and procrastinate.

[Montague]

Getting rid of distractions (namely, the internet, video games) or anything else you tend to do to pass time is the best way to stay committed to goals that require a bit of effort to get started on and see through to the end.

Pretty much because you'll be bored enough to actually want to go for a run, study or work on a long project. You'll just feel like you have nothing better to do at the time.

It's how I went through college, I did all my homework and assignments at the college library computers because if I planned to work on it at home, I'd always end up on the internet or doing some other more entertaining/ unproductive thing instead. I'm always more productive when I don't have any other more interesting options then to work.

[Muz]

Yeah, I'd say get rid of distractions too. I know a lot of motivated people, and the reason they were so motivated was because they're bored. The internet can actually give you a little entertainment for a very long period of time - you can spend your entire life on the internet. TV did the same thing for some people, or books or whatever.

I find that when I'm actually stuck in a room with no entertainment, I accomplish quite a bit.

You'll want some kind of entertainment break every once in a while, though. I'd recommend something in short bursts that's intensely fun, like a good movie, or a quick sport like basketball. Stay away from games that take time.. most games aren't really that fun, just addictive. Stay away from the internet. Facebook games are actually quite ok, since most of them have some timer that allows you to spend only like 20 mins at max a day.

[AllThingsLive]

Interesting answers so far, but I don't think distractions are the issue for me ( I know I talked about watching a video game trailer in one of my examples, but that isn't accurate, I usually end up pursuing what it is I want to do, and then slowly losing the intense initial motivation I had for the first couple days ) As far as distractions go, when I do my crazy amount of homework, I sit right in front of my computer, with it on, listening to music through it, and I don't touch it after the moment I get started, unless it's to look something up or change songs.

Here's a fun fact that you really don't need to know : Calming music completely ruins my train of thought. Dubstep, for whatever reason, helps me do my work much better, except for reading.

[Muz]

Well then, that's a little odd. I mean in my case, I have no problems getting motivated, I just get motivated at all the wrong things and spend too much time chasing stuff. I'm a very strong starter, people look at me trying out a new game and then running hours of calculations and tell me "wow, you're a bit too obsessed about this". My thrill is in accomplishing things, even if it's really mundane stuff. It's just part of my personality. I end up as a jack of all trades.

The people who become rockstars are not the guys who think that "Hey, it'll be fun to learn guitar". It's the people who drool over a guitar when they were young, pick it up on the earliest opportunity, practice it all day, write songs when they're in a line at the post office, actually put in a lot of effort to find people to start up a band, and basically spend their lives on it. I mean, I'm sure you don't want to be a rock star, but it's kinda like that.

One of my life dreams is to make a game similar to DF Adventure. I don't actually enjoy the steps to it, all the boring game design crap, learning to code, debugging. But something in me keeps me on that target, I end up planning my degree and job choices around that goal. When I lose sight of it, I just write up a blog/journal about what I think, and that motivates me immensely.

When you enjoy a target enough, you don't ask yourself "how do I motivate myself". You just end up justifying everything you do around that focus. I find that a lot of people who are great at a lot of things are simply the type whose life goal is to be the best at a lot of things or something like that.

You probably just don't see the end as being worth the effort. You need to find a way to either convince yourself to slug through it or/and enjoy the effort.

You seem to want to do a few things, but you probably don't want it bad enough to get over the learning curve. But you won't really have time for all those things. So, just find out what you really enjoy and then learn things along the way that will help.

[TheMasterTurtle]

Muz hit the nail on the head. I feel motivated all the time about my hobby, Muay Thai.

[hawkeye_de]

I had actually similar problems. I wanted to do this and this and this and in the end I have done nothing. My main problem was that I wanted to do too much things in the time, which I have.

Maybe, you just have not found the stuff, in which you have really interest? Or maybe - after schoolwork you are too 'exhusted', thus you might be too lazy to get into a topic, which has a steep learning curve?

Perhaps you should try to concentrete on your schoolwork to get it done, relax then/do some sports and then select one topic to dive into and see if you find interest but don't give up after a couple of hours.

But you're young...so don't stress yourself too much