Let’s face it, sometimes we all need a proverbial kick in the ass even when we have to do something we like. I know it’s true for me because I’ve been putting off converting my old How To Be Poor posts from the hacked Access database to my new MySQL database, and I happen to like my site.

Different people seek to be motivated by various means. Nev, for example, seems to be all about short inspirational messages on notes and posters to keep him plugged in. Empress, it seems, needs no motivation at all – she just does her thing. I, on the other hand, do need an external motivating force just to get through the day because of the number of meaningless little distracting hobbies I have.

I’ve known this about myself: I get motivated by listening to music. I can’t be just your regular jock rock you hear at the gym, and rarely something you hear on the radio. It’s rarely hip hop or classical (unless it’s Tupac’s Changes or the title track to Morrowind). It’s never electronica or reggae. Most often, it’s metal or pop (figure that one out).

Once in a while, nevertheless, I come across a song that touches me, takes me somewhere, and yes, makes me do things. Sometimes, it’s not really the entire song that affects me, but a small piece of it, an interesting harmony, a vocal tone, or just how a well a song is put together.

I can single out three songs that recently I’ve felt motivationally connected with.

• Tomorrow Never Dies by Sheryl Crow. The woman can sing. She’s also talented, classy, professional, fun, and charismatic. For some reason, I’ve never heard her show off her voice like in this sountrack to a Bond movie. Go Lance.
• Satellites and Astronauts by In Flames. This Swedish band is in my Top Five (thank you John Cusack from High Fidelity). Their death metal is so unbelievably melodic that you could actually sing those guitar harmonies and solos. This piece can wake me from dead sleep and have me doing crunches and mopping the floors in no time.
• Stop by Sam Brown. This 1988 hit single notwithstanding, she’s not too well-known outside of her native Britain. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t own a set of freakishly powerful pipes. I get chills every time I hear that high “e-e-very day”. Chills, I tell ya.

How do you trick yourself into doing things?