Staying Motivated to Win in Life & Business
Motivation is not the same as enthusiasm. Enthusiastic people are energized and engaged, but those who are motivated want to achieve goals beyond the level of just being excited. They are committed to working through problems and succeeding in spite of drawbacks and issues that may occur along the way. In fact, they see drawbacks as a necessary part of the process to help them win.
Motivated individuals are, by nature, geared to win and be successful. These are people with a focus on meeting miniature objectives to maximize the achievement of the overall goal. They can strategically plan how to win, and they have a level of creativity to work around problems and to see the diverse ways to reach their goals.
Internal and External Motivation
Learning how motivated people win involves learning a little about how they are motivated. There are two different sources of motivation. Motivation can be external, or it can be internal.
- External motivation is based on rewards or, less commonly, on avoiding penalties or negative consequences. For example, winning a cash prize for the highest sales or earning a spa weekend for being voted as ’employee of the month’ are sources of external motivation.
- Internal motivation is something that is unique to each individual. It is the ability to challenge oneself, to strive to continually improve and grow as well as the desire to reach success as self-defined.
Internal motivation is a key factor for winning in professional and personal settings. External motivators are helpful, but they don’t have the power and the sustainability of internal motivation.
Think of individuals who have overcome incredible odds. These people became winners in spite of the negativity or lack of support from external sources. Learning how to become self-motivated on an internal level is a powerful tool. Once learned, you can use this to chart your course to personal success.
Winning needs to be carefully defined. It is not always based on a specific, tangible outcome. Winning can also be in learning something new, becoming better in a given personal or professional area, or making steps towards your ultimate goal. With each success, you will find the capacity for internal motivation increases, which continues to support your efforts in the future.
Learning how to stay motivated and how motivated people win is key to finding long-term success in your personal and professional life.