113. When The Novelty Wears Off

I get it - at the start… everything feels exciting.

A new goal.
A new routine.
A fresh start.

You’re motivated, all in, and telling everyone about it… until one day - the novelty wears off.

Suddenly, the thing that once felt exciting now feels repetitive, effortful… maybe even a little boring. And this is usually the moment people start to question everything:

“Have I lost motivation?”
“Is this not for me?”

But here’s the truth - nothing’s gone wrong.
You’ve just moved past the novelty.

In this episode, Candice breaks down why excitement was never meant to carry you the whole way, and why so many people get stuck chasing the beginning instead of committing to the process.

If you’ve ever started something strong and struggled to keep going once the hype fades… this one is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

•  Why the “loss of motivation” isn’t actually the problem 
•  The trap of being addicted to the beginning 
•  What really separates people who follow through vs those who start over 
•  How to stay consistent when things feel boring, repetitive, or hard

🎧 If this episode made you think, laugh, or question something - send it to someone who needs a little permission to do life differently. 

📲 Screenshot, tag me @candiceharvey__, and let me know what hit home.

Oh and check out my FUN website for all my services: www.candiceharvey.com 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Hello, welcome to the Shaker Podcast. My name is Candace Harvey. I am your host, author, and performance coach. I am also a former corporate HR professional turned People Shaker. And since 2018, I've been running my own performance coaching business, helping humans actually thrive at work. Because I know, and you know, that working in 9 to 5 isn't always as glamorous as it may seem. It is back-to-back meetings, it should have been emails, it's managing different personalities that absolutely test your patience, and it's trying really, really hard to stay productive after 3 pm. All of that being said, I do not believe, write this down if you want, but Candace Harvey does not believe that quitting your job is the answer. But I do believe that showing up differently is, especially in 2026, which often means that we need to give ourselves a smidge of a shake up. So if you're ready for a nudge, a reset, or a loving kick up the you know what, the weekly shakeup podcast is especially for you. And I am so excited about this episode today because look, you know, as it is beautifully titled, When the Novelty Wears Off, this happens to the absolute best of us. Because at the start, everything feels exciting, doesn't it? Like just go back to those feelings, like you set a new goal. Oh, it's so exciting. You know, you have this brand new routine that starts on Monday. Oh, God, it's so exciting. And you just have this fresh start energy that just feels, I'm gonna say it again, so exciting. But you are motivated, you are just all in, you're telling everyone about it. It's like the, hey, babe, I'm gonna do this thing and it's gonna be so great. And it's like, hey, friend, I'm actually gonna start doing this thing. And they're like, go you, good on you. So we tell everyone about it, and then I don't know, the novelty wears off. Goals like getting fitter, you know, going to Pilates four times a week, not drinking alcohol Monday to Friday, running weekly for those who like to run weekly. Ew. Hundred squats a day, which, you know, my husband and I did for 12 weeks. Yes, we did, or meal prepping Sunday nights. It all is such a great goal, intention, plan of attack. And then one day you wake up and it just doesn't feel exciting anymore. It feels like effort, it feels repetitive, it feels like something you just have to do. It's not something you get to do. And this is the moment where most people actually think, oh, I've lost motivation. You know, maybe this goal actually isn't for me. Maybe this isn't the way that I want to live my life, maybe this isn't fun. And I get it, but also that's not it, sunshine. You've actually just moved past the novelty. But here's the thing excitement was never meant to carry the whole thing. Excitement is there to start you off, to get things cracking, but expecting little miss excitement to be there the entire journey, like your excitement needs a day off here and there, right? Like it's mandatory and it's going to happen. Excitement is not gonna be there the entire time. So we need to get to a point in our lives where we stop being shocked when it does. And the mistake that actually a lot of people make is they quit. That goal that they were super excited about, that brand new routine that they know was gonna make a difference. They just they stopped doing it or they jump to something new to feel that excitement again. And I I'm hoping that even as I'm saying this, you're like, ah shit, I have totally done that one, two, fourteen, twenty seven times. We probably have, right? It just doesn't feel good anymore. You're like, this isn't this isn't fun. I see it so often with my clients as well. They get so excited about something they're gonna do, and for the first couple of weeks, they are bloody legends at it, and then all of a sudden, it becomes hard. It becomes something that, like, I don't want to do this anymore, right? Like, yeah, that you're okay. Hang in there, mate. But the real shaker, peeps, like this is for us, is that you are actually not someone who's inconsistent. And we can sort of think that way. Once we get that little bit of a dip, once we get to that point where like this isn't fun anymore, this is hard work, we start to go, God, I'm just I'm just not consistent enough. I just can't seem to give it a crack. It's not the problem. It is not an inconsistency problem. You are actually addicted to the beginning. And everyone loves the beginnings. It's why people actually sign up to a brand new gym. You know, why they get bored of their gym and they want to sign up to a brand new one. It's why people get excited about an eight-week challenge. Like, has anyone done that? Like, I know you can't talk back to me right now, but I'm sure if you're in your car, if you're walking, whatever, like you can nod along. Don't worry, people won't think you're weird. I so often, when I'm listening to podcast episodes, I feel I talk back. I totally talk back. And it's, I mean, look, there's worse things that I do. If you follow me on social media, you see that I I talk to myself a lot with my phone out there, and it's um, it's just what I do, but I I talk back. So you can you can talk back. But you know that feeling when you sign up to an eight-week challenge, right? And you get so excited because you're like, oh my God, this is the beginning. This is the start, and in eight weeks, I am gonna be a different person. I'm gonna feel so much better, I'm gonna have lost weight, I'm gonna this, this, this, this, and this. And it's it's exciting. Or thinking about signing up with a PT or even signing up with an online coach, like doing a course. The beginning is when excitement is paid like double time, double time and a half, and they just have to attend. Like it is mandatory for excitement to be there at the very beginning of you doing your new thing. But we have to stop acting disappointed, dick appointed, when it gets hard or boring or lame, because all goals get like that. Like, I need that to be a bit of a news flash. We've got to, like, I know that even in one of my corporate workshops that I run, not done yet, I say to people when we're we're going through this part in the workshop, and I love this part, where I get everyone clear on that one thing that's most important to them, like that one goal that keeps them up at night, that one goal that they keep saying they're gonna do when they're not doing. And sometimes when we actually lock down that goal, because everyone in the room has to do it for themselves individually, there are so often people that put their hands up and they're like, this has been a goal of mine, Candace, for years. Like I'm not talking just days, peeps, or weeks or months, years where they just haven't actually got around to doing it. And it becomes that thing where it's like we actually know what we want to be doing, but for some reason, we either give it a crack or a little bit of crack and it actually becomes comes a little bit boring or it becomes hard or we get distracted with something else or or whatever it is, right? But I actually say in the workshop, I'm like, it's almost like when we were growing up that something, someone, someone or something has told us that achieving your goals is easy. And everyone always looks at me like I've got two heads when I actually announce that. But I'm like, we must have been told that, right? Like someone has told us, whether it's a teacher, a parent, a sibling, a friend, an uncle, I don't know. Someone must have said, hey mate, you're gonna set goals and you're gonna try and work towards them, and it is gonna be really easy. And if it's not easy, stop. Stop doing it. If life gets busy, stop. If things get hard, stop. If it gets boring, stop. Right? But the really weird thing, because everyone's looking at me going, I wasn't told that. And I'm like, no shit. No one was actually told that. But for some reason, we start living our life that way. We set this goal, and the moment something gets a little bit wobbly, or we start to get sick of it, and it's like, oh God, I've been doing this meal prepping thing for like four Sundays. I'm so over it, I'm not gonna do it anymore. Hang on. I thought that was gonna be what we were gonna do all year. Weren't we gonna do that? Oh, it got boring. Oh, okay, you should definitely stop then. You should definitely stop. Or when people sign up for that eight-week challenge in the first couple of weeks, they're like, oh my god, this is so good. And I got on the scales and I've just like dropped all this water weight. It's so exciting. And then week four, nothing's moved. This is so annoying. I haven't lost any weight. I'm gonna quit. This is bullshit. What? Right? Like we weren't actually told this, but something has popped into our little noodles and has convinced us that if it gets hard, if it gets boring, if it gets lame, stop. Like, do we actually think that Olympians are excited at every workout they do? Like, I think about swimmers. Mainly like there's a lot of other athletes in the Olympics, but let's just let's just hang out with swimmers for a moment. Like they are the ones who are in the pool at, you know, the time that I wake up, really. Like they're in the pool early. But I even heard they go back to the pool after work. Like, I am there's a lot of pool time. There's a lot of getting wet, there's a lot of washing your hair. That's the reason that I actually don't like to get in the pool or even go for a swim. I know this is probably really boring, but I don't like having to wash my hair, blow dry my hair, straighten my hair. Oh, the ordeal. So it stops me. But if we think about swimmers, Olympic swimmers, like, do you really think that they are excited, pumped, enthusiastic every time they have to get into the pool? I don't think so. I do I guarantee it. I mean, I haven't spoken to any of them, but I highly doubt that they are pumped about it every single time. There would be moments where they are like, this is not fun. This is hard. I'm sore. I'm tired. There are other things in my life that I want to fit in. I think about that with Olympians. I'm like, how do you fit anything else in? But then even if we think about, I don't know, Stephen Bartlett, right? Like, do we think he gets excited about every single podcast episode that he has to do? He has done a shitload. He continues to do a shitload. Like, are we thinking he's excited? Like he sets himself this probably massive mahoosive goal at the beginning of the year of how many people he wants to interview and how many different types of questions that he has to ask people. Is he excited about that? I don't know. Like, do you think there are times when even I question this job that I've got? Like thinking maybe it just isn't all it's cracked up to be, you know, like maybe I could do something different, different. Like there are times for every single person, regardless of what they are doing, everyone finds things difficult or challenging, or a bit like Groundhog Day. That's why that movie was just such a classic. So many people watched it and were like, oh my God, imagine. Imagine living the same day over and over again. But giving up on things that are important to you and chucking it in the too hard basket isn't giving you anything to tap yourself on the back for. Like it's just not. And I say this in my workshop as well. Like, that is such a boring story to be someone who's like, I attended this Candace Harvey workshop and it was amazing. Of course I say that. It was amazing. We got really clear on what's most important for us over the next 90 days, and I I know exactly how to like stop myself from excuses, all that sort of stuff. She gave us this really cool three A steps, and I use it in my personal life, at least my professional life. And then all of a sudden, like, oh god, I don't know. Like it just got really like the kids got sick, and like I hurt myself, so I just couldn't do it anymore. And yeah, I just um I'm gonna try again next year, maybe. Oh, it's so boring, isn't it? Like we've got to start realizing and recognizing ourselves, learning more about ourselves that these are the things that happen. And giving up when the novelty wears off is not the story that I want you to be able to tell. Giving up when the novelty wears off, this is not the story that I think you want to tell. Right? Like to say, oh, I started it and I was really excited about this goal, then I don't know, I just got bored. Oh, cool, dude. Cool. So, yes, it is mid-April, late April. It is April. What is it? The 20th of April. Easter has gone, and everyone is talking about mid-year already. Like, literally, as soon as Easter's done, it's like, right, well, we're pretty close to mid-year, and now we're on the downslope to Christmas. The novelty has worn off. Everyone knows how to write 2026, no one's getting confused anymore. We're not accidentally saying 2025. We are well and truly into this brand new year, and the novelty has worn off. Great. And if you're feeling like that, you are absolutely bloody human. Normal. You're not the only one. But what actually keeps people going? Like what keeps people going? This is the difference. When we think about the Olympians, when we think of Stephen Bartlett, when we think about all these people who are actually going ahead with their goals, because there are a lot of people who sign up to eight-week challenges at the gym, and I see this so often. There are people who give it their absolute bloody all, and there are people who quit. There are people halfway who decide this isn't for me. There are people halfway who are like, oh, I haven't got the results that I wanted. So who cares? I actually don't even care about this challenge. I wasn't even in the mood anyway. I just signed up because everyone else was doing it. Like, I actually don't care about this. Really? You don't care about this? You didn't get that excitement at the beginning that said, oh my God, in eight weeks' time, I'm gonna feel so much better. I'm gonna fit into those jeans that I haven't been able to fit into a couple of years, and I'm just gonna, you know, all my habits are gonna be in place. Like, just shut up, you weren't excited about in the beginning. You were excited, but the novelty wore off for some people. But the novelty doesn't wear off, and there is a difference between those that keep going and those that don't. So we are gonna go through the how many did I write down? One, two, three, four. I think I was gonna write five and I actually didn't. I think the fifth was a bit like a it's not necessary. And I do, I'm I'm really into this thing at the moment where I want these episodes to be really punchy for you. I want you to get exactly what you need and be like, thank you so much, Candace Harvey. Done form for the week. I did have someone contact me this week asking for multiple episodes a week, and I was like, you need to calm down. You need to absolutely calm down. She was giving me feedback, she was loving what the episode was, and she's like, I just can't wait until next Monday. I was like, You're gonna have to wait, mate. You are going to absolutely wait. But for this episode today, we are going through the four things, the four very clear indicators of what helps you to be someone who keeps going instead of being that person you've possibly maybe been in the past where you have given up when it got hard, when it got boring, when it got, I don't know, fill in the blank, right? So here we go. What actually keeps you going? Number one, it is decide that it matters, even when it's not fun. Decide when it matters, decide that it matters. So this is where it shifts from I feel like it to I said I would. So this is all like about, you know, discipline, but you want to make it real, not actually cliche. So, you know, for me, one of my goals this year was that I wanted to get on LinkedIn more. Like that was one of my goals. And if we think about this first one, like decide it matters, like why does that actually matter? Like getting on LinkedIn more this year matters to me because it's not actually just about posting. Like any Tom Dick and Harry can do that. But it is about showing up consistently. It is also about sharing my perspectives in a very different way to how I show up on my podcast or how I actually show up on Instagram or Facebook or my email even. So it's a very different platform, LinkedIn. So sharing my perspective. Um, it's also about building a professional presence, right? So even though I love social media, I really do. Like being able to put something a little bit creative together. I love being able to play around on apps and different things, to post on socials and make things all my branding colours, like it might sound lame. I actually have a really good time doing that. I thoroughly enjoy it. I really enjoy putting that sort of stuff together. But when we're on LinkedIn, it is a bit different. It is more about like really showing a very different side of me, which I love, but I haven't actually done it very often, right? So getting really clear on this number one thing, like why does it actually matter, is super, super important. And the more I share, the more I can also, on LinkedIn I'm talking about, but the more that I can also connect with the right people, like I can spark meaningful conversations, I can create brand new opportunities, which is really exciting. So whether that is, I don't know, collaboration, whether that is bringing on new clients, or whether it's just being me being someone who becomes top of mind in my industry, that's pretty great. And that is why it actually matters for me to get my cute bum onto LinkedIn. So it is about consistency over perfectionism for sure, but it's showing up is more important than what I actually post. So even actually just talking about this out loud to you. So thank you so much for listening about my goal on LinkedIn. Um, it is one of those goals that I actually even had last year, but it fell off my radar because I don't know, I did a few things last year, like write a book and uh had my business, busiest years in business ever. So there were a few things that were going on. However, LinkedIn this year is gonna be a focus because I don't want it to be something that slips off the radar. And I have to keep reminding myself, like, this matters. And it is not saying why does this matter? It's actually deciding it matters, right? It's not always gonna be fun because I do have a little bit of a feeling the way that I have been over the last couple of years, where I'm like, LinkedIn just ain't that fun. It's just not. Whenever I go on LinkedIn, it's just someone telling me that, oh, I just I had this new opportunity, I got invited to this thing and I was the debba zaba zaba. And I'm like, great, like it just feels very, I don't know, boasty, same, same, gray, vanilla, beige. Boring. That's what LinkedIn feels for me. And when I'm on social media, other forms of social media, I um, I get to be a bit more creative, but I'm like, why can't I do that here? Like it matters that I show a very different side of me. So that's number one. What actually keeps you going? Number one, decide that it matters. Whatever that goal is for you that keeps slipping, decide it matters. Number two is make it easier to show up. So this is really about lowering the bar on hard days, right? Like shorten it, simplify it. So consistency doesn't actually come from doing it perfectly, it comes from doing it even when it's average. So for me, one of my goals is always about walking, right? Like walking is such a big part of my life. Walking, and that, oh god, that sounded very dramatic, didn't it? Walking is such a big part of my life, but it actually is. You know, I even know that last year when I did the 50k coastal walk trek, one of my friends who's known me since I was 14 and nine months, she actually said to me, You've been training for this your entire life. And it was really funny because obviously she's known me quite a long time. We don't need to do the maths, right? She's known me a long time, 14 and nine months is when we met at Hungry Jack's. Oh, loved those days. You know, you had to actually sign a form if you're 14 or your parents had to sign a form because you were 14 and nine months. That's how we know how old we are. Um, and I sort of thought about that and I was like, I've always walked. Like I've never been a runner, I've always been into exercise, like and I always jump from different things, whether it's yoga, Pilates, boxing. Never really swimming. I did a bit of swimming when I was in uh uni and I loved it, but again, I had to wash my hair, it's super annoying. Um, but I've always loved different things: boot camps, um, group, you know, stuff. I love it, group stuff, because you know, you girl likes to chat. So if I can chat and pretend I'm not exercising, that's always a really great thing. But walking has been pretty consistent, and I always feel the best when walking is a really big part of my life. So I even today will go for a walk this afternoon, actually, because I didn't get to go this morning, so that was annoying. But I'll always make myself go. But the when I actually feel really great is when I do 12,000 steps a day. This is different for everybody. For me, though, 12,000 steps a day, I feel really great. But what number two, make it easier to show up. There are days, ladies and gents, where Candace Harvey just doesn't feel like it. So I have to allow myself to still walk because that's doing what I want to do, right? Like I can't be someone who walking is a big part of my life and then you don't walk, you're weirdo. Like it obviously makes me feel great, but I can be someone who still gets their shoes on, gets out the door, and just does a shorter route. So where I live, I actually have my normal track where I know if I go this particular way, it will round up being about 12,000 steps for the day, which I absolutely love. Like I don't do it all in one morning and then I sit on my ass all day. I make sure that if I do that and live my normal life, whether it's workshops, even doing a lot of work on my laptop, still, I will get to 12,000 steps. But there are days where I'm like, I'm gonna do the shorter route, and I know exactly what that is. I know that still getting out the door is a shorter route, and guess what? Some days, even though number two, I'm making it easier to show up, I end up walking longer. I end up work walking further, which is so, so great. Oh God, if you know me, if you've known me or listened to the podcast enough, I get walk and work mixed up, those two words, so regularly. It's absolutely unbelievable. It has been since I have been a wee wee tiny candace, and I just I get them mixed up all the time. I go for a walk, work, I go for a work sometimes, and then I'll go into walk all the time. I get them mixed up. So it's like my dyslexic is just on those two words. Insane, isn't it? However, number two is super important though. Make it easier to show up. This is gonna be the difference between someone who actually continues to keep going and someone who doesn't. Make it easier to show up. Number three is stop following the mood, follow the plan. I've been talking about this for the last couple of, I don't know, a while now. You won't always feel motivated to do your goals. So we need to stop expecting that we will. This one actually gives me the shits. When people say they didn't feel like it, you know, I was I was feeling a bit flat, I was feeling a bit this. Your goals the things that make you happy. Your goals are the things that actually put you in a better mood. But we've got to stop following the mood and listening to the mood, which is a really weird contradiction sometimes because even in my coaching, when I've got my private clients, I do say to them, like the biggest question that we never ask ourselves, so the most underrated question out there, is asking yourself, what do I need from me right now? Because I feel that so often we know, and especially as women, so this is for the ladies out there who are constantly thinking of everything and everything all in one tiny minute, right? Is that we think about what our partners need, we think about what the dog needs, we think about what the kids need, we think about our mum needs, what our brother needs, we think about everybody else and what their needs are, and we very rarely ask ourselves the question of, well, what do I need right now? What is it that I need? So it really is about understanding that you have set a plan for yourself, which is what you need. That plan is something that will make you the best version of you. Otherwise, I mean, it's not gonna, number one, decide that it matters. If it doesn't matter, then don't freaking do it. And I say that in my workshops all the time when we are doing that one goal thing. I'm like, I want everyone to look at that goal. And if it gets you excited to put that tick in it when you have completed it, amazing. If it doesn't, I want you to cross it out. And I get people to put up their hand. I'm like, who isn't that excited about their goal? And it only just happened last week, actually. And one guy put his hand up very proudly, which was kind of strange. Think about it. I was like, who is not excited by their goal? And up his hand went like straight. And I was like, why not? He's like, oh, I just don't think it's that great a goal. I said, did you know what I'm going to ask you to do? And he's like, cross it out. I said, Yep, cross it out. It's a shit goal. Think about something you're excited to achieve. And once you're excited to achieve it, you will have a plan. And your plan will be, whether it's, you know, for this guy, I think he ended up getting a goal that he was really, really excited about. He said, Oh, I'm going to have to work on it every single week. It's going to be something I'm going to dedicate time to. Great. In the calendar, that becomes your plan. The plan to achieve this goal that you're excited about is locked in. If you actually allow yourself, though, every day, every week to be like, I don't feel like it. I don't want to do that today. Oh, I did it yesterday. I won't have to do it again. You are not going to be achieving that goal. You need to be able to feel proud of yourself. You want to be able to feel like you're progressing. And if we just follow our mood, sometimes that won't happen. So you don't need to feel excited, but you do need to stay connected to your plan and why it actually matters. So many people don't do things because they don't feel like it. They wait for motivation, for inspiration, or just the perfect mood to strike. And while we wait, time passes, opportunities slip, and momentum actually fades. The longer you stay in that, I'm waiting till I find my mojo again, the harder it becomes. I know even working in HR for 15 years, and this is a little bit of a, what do you call it? Not a segue. A um curveball. I can't think of it. Damn it. And you I you know when I do this, I think that people listening are like, what you're trying to say is, I can't hear you. You know, it's like this was in the past, me recording this. This was in the past. But I was working in HR and people would call in sick, right? And it might be to do with like legit sickness. It might be because they just can't be asked with work. It might be because they have just had a very stressful moment. So they take time off. And they might take time off on a Friday, right? And then they have the weekend and then come Monday and they still don't want to come in. So they call in again. And I remember my biggest thing was to be able to get in contact with these people and go, hey, I know you don't feel like it, but I need your cute bum to get back to work. And we'll take it easy and we'll have a chat when you get in, we'll go for a coffee and we'll have a look at what we can do. But it is about getting back and creating that momentum again. The longer you actually wait, the bigger the gap is where you're holding off on. And I know this is a little bit of a confusing one. That's why I called it a segue, but it's still very similar because it's someone staying away from work, someone staying away from their goals, someone staying away from what matters becomes really hard to get back. And the truth is as well, is that motivation is actually unreliable. But commitment is really powerful. So staying connected to your plan, like the reason that you actually started, the outcome that you want, the impact that it's gonna have, it keeps you moving even when the excitement isn't there. So I want you to think about it like this. You don't wait to feel like brushing your teeth, do you? Can you imagine? You do it because it's the plan, like it matters. Like if you actually waited to feel in the mood to brush your teeth, no one would brush their teeth. I mean, I actually really love brushing my teeth, you know, and like you brush your teeth and then you get your tongue across your teeth. Oh, silky smooth feels delish. Do love it. But especially with kids, like they don't want to brush their teeth. But the plan is we brush our teeth. We do it because it actually matters. Sometimes I don't want to drink water. Like, literally, I reckon I could go an entire day sometimes without drinking water, but it's not the point. Sometimes I don't want to go to work. That's not the point. The same applies to our goals, habits, and growth. So number three is we've got to stop following the mood and we've got to follow the plan. Number four, my favorite, is make it fun when it gets boring. If it feels boring, it might be time to do it differently, to not just quit, but do it differently. You know, like let's say your goal is to, I don't know, let's uh let's go back to Candace Arby, shall we? To white white, to write weekly LinkedIn posts. And you do it, like of course I will, because that's the goal, but after a few months, it starts to feel like a chore. It's like this same routine, same format. Open LinkedIn, think of something to write about, do a few hashtags, copy a few people in to get their attention so they'll like my post and maybe they'll share it. That'd be great if they share it. And oh well, there's a comment and I've got to reply to the comment, right? It can feel same, same. But instead of just k skipping it and instead of just going this isn't fun anymore, instead of saying this is boring, instead of saying I hate LinkedIn, shake it up. You know, maybe I'll try a new post style. Maybe I'll do a carousel or I'll do a video or I'll do a poll, or maybe I'll invite a colleague or a friend to actually brainstorm different ideas with me. Maybe I'll challenge myself to make it a little bit more funny or visually creative. Like we've got to also remind ourselves that when things start to be not fun, we're not five years old anymore, where mum has to come and make my day fun. Like we get to make it fun. It used to drive me bonkers when I worked in HR and people would just seem to be like, oh, I'm just a bit over it. I'm just bored. So what are you waiting for? You're waiting for your manager to make it interesting for you, you're waiting for HR to all of a sudden organize a fun day. Like you're an adult, you're a fully grown human. If your goal is starting to feel a bit boring, you get to do something about it. Like use that cute noggin of yours and make it interesting, you know? So suddenly something that felt tedious becomes like a mini creative adventure and you keep showing up without this dread, but it is on you. You know, even if there is a goal, like you have to submit, I don't know, I'm gonna think of something really boring. Um blah blah blah. Like submit weekly reports on time, right? There could be something reoccurring in your calendar where every week you just have to submit a report. I actually think that's one of my husband's things on his to-do list. We were in Adelaide uh last month and we're on the plane, and I love being on the plane. I think I've talked about this on the podcast before, but it's just like this time where there's no pinging on the phone, no one can annoy me, and I can literally do what I want. I think on the way to Adelaide I did nothing. I had my book on my lap. I don't even think I opened it. I think I just had my earphones in, my airpods in, earphones, and I wasn't even listening to music. I just sat there with my husband beside me, got to hold his cute little hand, loved that. And he got out a pen and paper and he just started writing this massive to-do list. Oh god, it was I love a to-do list because I was really excited because I I don't coach my husband, like I want to stay married, right? Like he's not hiring me to be his coach. That's that's not fun. Um, however, he wrote like two pages of A4 lists of things that he had to do. And I was reading them, I was like, this is mammoth stuff. And I actually said to it at the end, I was like, Can I um can I suggest something to make that to-do list even like better? And sometimes he'll like roll his eyes at me. And this time he was open to it. He's like, Yeah. I was like, Can you go through all of that and write down beside each thing how long you think it's gonna take you to do those things? And he was like, What? And I was like, each item that you've got on there, can you write down how long it's gonna take you? Like, is it gonna take you an hour? Is it gonna take you 10 minutes? Because I knew there were things on there, it was like email Darren, or it was call Jody. I can't remember these names, but things like that. But then there was other things where it was like, hire a new technical mechanic. And I was like, oh God, how long's that gonna take, right? So some of them weren't even specific enough. But anyway, I led him to it because I don't want to, you know, I've got to choose my, not choose my battles, because it wasn't a battle, but I've got to choose the things that I want to coach him through sneakily. He's a smart man, by the way. He knew exactly what I was doing. Anyway, he went through the whole thing. He didn't enjoy doing it, but he went through the whole thing and I was like, how good? Now you actually know where your time is gonna take you. But the point is there are a few things on his list that were reoccurring, the things that he had to do every single week. And I was like, oh, that sucks. That sucks. I mean to do those things every single, every single week. But if we think about this example, like the problem is when you do have those reoccurring tasks in your calendar, that after a few weeks it feels repetitive, it feels tedious, and it just becomes another task on your to-do list. And sometimes we can put it off, we can put it off into the next week, and then it makes the next week feel hectic and all that sort of stuff. But if we're thinking about making it fun, like challenge yourself to, I don't know, beat your previous completion time without ruining the quality, right? So you're like, you know, I it took me two hours to do last week. I'm gonna try and do it in an hour and a half. Like, challenge yourself. Or maybe you add a small reward. Like when you finish it early, you're gonna take yourself out for a coffee or go for a walk outside. Or maybe you just turn it into like a mini ritual where whenever you do that particular task, you you know, listen to some music, or you go and have a snack, or you tidy your desk before it so that it feels like, you know, you're doing something a bit special, or this is the way that I start my week, or whatever. But it's just about doing something different to make it a little bit more enjoyable, knowing this is a task that you have to do, or this is a goal that is important to you. So even a boring repetitive task can become something that you can enjoy and then you stick to your goal consistently, right? So they were the four things. Four things to keep people going when the novelty wears off. And those four things are just a reminder, number one, decide it matters. Number two, make it easier to show up. Number three, stop following your mood, follow your plan. And number four, make it fun when it gets boring. The moment it starts to feel like, ugh, right? Like that's the noise that probably comes out of your brain or your mouth or your head or wherever, right? Could come out anywhere else if you like. But the moment it's like eye rolling so far I can see the back of my head, you're like, oh God, that's the novelty wearing off. And it is up to you to go, hey, number one, I decided that this matters. Why does this matter to me? I decided that. Number two, maybe I just mean to make it easier to show up. Like maybe I'm having one of those weeks where everything is a little bit hard, right? Number three, stop following your mood. Follow your plan. You have a plan there. And when you complete that plan, you are gonna feel amazing. And number four, if it's boring, make it fun. Don't quit when the novelty wears off because it will. Like honestly, hand on my heart, I do not think I have ever gone through a goal myself, experienced a client go through a goal, seen a team actually work towards a goal where it doesn't get to a point where the novelty wears off. It always does. Always. You just have to start realizing that it's part of it. Excitement is allowed to have a break. Excitement goes on leave every now and again, but you don't have to leave. You just have to shake things up. Every goal has a phase where it stops being exciting. And that's not the end. That's the moment it actually starts counting. If you get past that part, my God, you legend. Anyone can show up when it's exciting. Anyone can sign up for that new course, that new, I don't know, challenge program, gym, whatever. Anyone can do that. Like bloody, think of January for gyms in January time. They are just getting brand new memberships left, right, and center. How many do we reckon are actually following through with it? The excitement was going to the new gym, getting the walk around and saying, oh, they got a sauna here. Oh, that's really exciting. Great. Oh, you've got a um, a cold plunge. That sounds terrible. Yeah, how exciting. Here's my money. And then I wonder, I don't know the stats on this because it's really boring. As in, it's annoying for me to say this and go, I wonder how many people actually go to the gym regularly that sign up in January. Right? Anyone can sign up to new shit. Anyone, it's exciting. But the people who get results, they're the ones who absolutely keep showing up when it's not. So I want you to be one of those people who gets the results. Don't just quit when the novelty wears off. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Go have fun and make sure you do what? That's right, shake things up.