Introduction
Motivation is a source that revolves around you, your creativity, productivity, and in the end something that makes you feel proud. It is what causes us to start things up, to change, adapt, and feel involved and significant.
Motivation involves emotional, social, and genetic factors that activate your behavior. Although, there can be other personal forces as well.
Everyone goes through the phase of feeling unmotivated at some time or the other. The struggle to find the energy to get things done when all you are doing is lying on your bed thinking about being unproductive or distracting yourself with pleasure.
Laziness and procrastination can be overcome, but that means you should be open to what is required to set yourself up. You can start with small things but you need to be consistent. Whether it’s for workouts, your career, or your well-being, everything needs motivation in one way or the other.
Types of Motivation
Extrinsic motivation: It is the force to perform, achieve, or do something based on outcome rather than for fun, enjoyment or personal development is extrinsic motivation.
The kind of motivation that is driven or controlled by external factors such as money, fame, reputation, social influence, etc. Mostly, it is society-based.
Intrinsic motivation: It is the kind that comes out to meet personal interests, something that arises from within the individual.
You find the motivation to do something you like or enjoy, it could be either as a social worker that makes you happy to help others or it could be as simple as developing a skillset or an interest or a hobby. Whatever you take on, it is entirely for personal gratification.
What is the role of motivation?
It might be a little difficult to get started depending on the individual. But as you find the right track and pace, you would want to keep going. First, let’s try to understand what motivation can do to you:
1) It helps people to put necessary efforts into action.
2) Improves overall well-being and self-development.
3) Helps people to take control of their lives such as avoiding impulsive or compulsive behaviors.
4) Encourages people to take required steps.
5) Keeps you happy and satisfied at the end of the day.
Many people experience ups and downs in their motivation and willpower. Somedays you might feel a high rush of energy toward your goals, while other days you tend to be restless and uncertain about your efforts and goals or how to achieve them.
One who wants to accomplish something or is already working towards his/her goal might realize sometime in life that simply having the desire is not going to fulfill a dream. Achieving something beyond measures requires your ability to keep going in spite of any obstacles or difficulties.
There are three important elements of motivation; activation, persistence, and intensity.
1) Activation refers to the decision or the first stepping stone to initiate a behavior, such as setting up your alarm clock.
2) Persistence involves you giving constant effort even though difficulties might arise. Suppose you want to wake up early but you went to bed late, in this case, you shouldn’t give up the fact that you want to wake up early no matter what.
3) Intensity refers to the determination that you have towards your goal. For example, one person might easily wake up early without much effort or alarm clock, but another wants to do it by prioritizing things about what to do after getting up. The first lacks intensity, while the other wants to do things more intensely.
Steps to get self-motivated:
Starting off, you need to give yourself a lot of space to reflect and to have a sense of clarity. You have to nurture your body by having the right kind of food, exercise, and rest.
Having a recollection of bad past memories can put a hold on your sense of self. Talk about your fears, and confusion with people who are willing to listen. Let those negative energies out and receive new positive energy by spending time on what you love.
Go easy on yourself. Nobody can be at their best within a few days. Take one day at a time. Uncertainty, grief, and confusions are all normal things at some stage. If you relax into it, everything will fall into place when it’s ready.
Everyone’s timing is different. Stop comparing yourself to the people around you. Spend time in nature and with calm, understanding people to recenter yourself. Accept your thoughts and don’t try to push them away. Address them with what you can do at present rather than thinking about it in the future.
If you’re feeling low on motivation, you can do the below-mentioned steps that will keep you right on track. They include:
1) Rewind and adjust things that really matter to you to reach your goals.
2) If you feel like you’re doing something big or overwhelming, break it down into smaller parts and follow through them step by step.
3) Exercise regularly so that your body produces enough dopamine which has a major role in making you do what you want.
4) Give yourself small rewards when you are being productive. That way you can easily get motivated and do things with a sense of purpose.
5) Make sure to get pauses in between your long work or study session. Take short breaks of 15-20 mins after every hour you work. Use that to relax your body and mind or just take a walk around.
6) If you are insecure about something, try improving things in those areas to make yourself more skilled and capable.
7) Find different ways to reach your goals. Just because an approach worked for someone else does not mean it will work for you. If something is not helping, it’s time to change your approach or methods to reach your goals.
Demotivation can arise because of various categories of problems. Trying to identify the real reasons for your lack of willpower and determination can take a while, but here is a list that could be causable factors for your demotivation:
- You’re demotivated by fear
- You’re demotivated by the lack of clarity
- You’re demotivated by having wrong approaches to your goals
- You’re demotivated by loneliness or grief
- You’re demotivated by the lack of challenge
Know when and how to let go
You will find yourself going through tough situations in your life, but that doesn’t mean they will be there forever. Think of them as crossing hurdles and in the end, you will reach where you want to be. Learn to either let go or get through them. After all, life is a journey, not a destination.
Try the meditation type suitable for you to help you move towards your goal