For me when I think of motivation, I always remember the cartoon show ‘Tom & Jerry’ for most of you it’s an old cartoon show, that you might not recognise, maybe you can google it, just for the fun of it!
Jerry is a home mouse, whose always trying to get to the forbidden food protected by Tom the cat. Jerry is internally or self motivated, he wants that food for himself, he’s not trying to share it with anyone, nor is there a competition. Whilst Tom is externally motivated it’s his job to protect the food or he’ll get punished by the owner and get thrown out of the house. But, if he succeeds, his dreams a pampered life, will come true.
Jerry keeps coming with creative solutions & innovative methods or ideas to overcome the barriers stopping him of getting what he wants. Actually, the more difficult the challenges are the more determined Jerry becomes. Jerry, the thief is the hero, he’s the funny one. And when we played Tom and Jerry, almost everyone wanted to be Jerry cause he’s always funny and wins!
That was my first lesson in motivation when I think about it. Happiness, self recognition, determination & passion result in creativity & innovation and you need to work hard and be assertive not give up, in order to succeed. As you’re not trying to prove it to anyone nor get a certain reward, it’s a continuous process that becomes part of your everyday life. Meaning self motivation becomes part of whom you are.
If you understand self motivation you can use it to motivate others! I found from my own personal experience & that of others, the following tips & I would like to share them with you:
1- Challenging yourself: We are more motivated when we pursue goals with personal meaning and when attaining these goals is possible but not necessarily certain. It’s our journey towards achieving our goals that enhances our self-esteem, that is related to our own performance & the feedback we receive from others helps us modify our methods or strategies.
2- Curiosity: Internal motivation is increased when something grabs our curiosity! It’s when we start asking why, what or how, our brains start wondering and ideas start flowing! Keeping an open mind with no boundaries, increases our creativity and helps us come with innovative ideas. That is what thinking outside the box is based on. Don’t limit yourself with other opinions, always wonder and if something grabs your interest and curiosity don’t try to stop yourself, cause that inner power is self motivation!
3- Taking charge or control of our life: we all want something, may it be a pursue of a career, better life standard, sharing our knowledge, making our mark in the world, creating something or improving something that will affect our life and help us have control over it. Find out what you want and don’t let go, believe that you have the power to influence your life by choices you make, will keep you motivated. You might along the way change or alter your ways but you will not give up!
4- Cooperation and Recognition: Intrinsic motivation can be increased in situations where you’re cooperating with others towards a common goal. For instance coming up with ideas or ways to improve the quality of life for senior citizens that don’t have any family members to care for them. This cooperation towards a social cause will keep you or your team self motivated for you’re touching on their humanitarian aspect in their personality. Achieving or working towards a selfless cause, gives us a sense of satisfaction, increases our self worth and gets us recognition by other members of our community which increases our self confidence, gives us a sense of joy and keeps us motivated.
5- Competition: self competition to always wanting to become better, achieve more things, pursue your dreams, reach your goals will always keep you motivated. Nevertheless, creating competition with other minded people is healthy to increase your level of motivation and improve your knowledge, interact with others that will empower you with looking at things from different perspectives or as I love to use the term ‘ seeing the world through different lenses.’ These tools are a gift and whenever you get a chance to participate in an event, workshop or a simple meet up with people that share you’re interest don’t miss up on it! Knowledge is powerful & learning from others opens doors we never considered to even unlock before. This will increase your curiosity, maybe help you come up with new solutions or ideas which will be your fuel to keep you going to reach new points in your journey that we’re not on your map!
It’s very important to understand, that our mind always plays tricks on us! I like to see it as the bad cop and god cop strategy. The key is to balance and listen to both cops. One that is nurturing, and one that is critical; one that lifts up, and one that weighs you down. Both of these voices have a role to play. Our inner nurturer brings self-compassion and encouragement, while the inner critic helps you recognise where you’ve gone wrong and what you need to do to set things right!
We are humans and by nature we need to live in a society and have the need to belong, which also motivates us to participate in social activities & belonging to a group. This will help us feel as if we are a part of something bigger and more important than ourselves. It will keep us inspired, enjoying life, find interesting and captivating things to share with others or do on our own not for any external reward but for our own sake and mental wellbeing which is a key factor in all happy self motivated individuals
Be inspired, set yourself free and remember there are no limits other than those you create in your mind! You can read many articles but they’ll all be meaningless if you don’t start believing in yourself and take charge of your life!