Motivation; it’s just a hormone…

Ever felt really motivated after watching a movie or listening to an inspiring talk or a song? Ever wondered why that feeling only stays for a few moments and then dissipates? But wait a minute, aren’t there people whom you find consistently motivated, charged, focused and thriving? So how do they have an elongated sense of motivation than you? Want to know the secret? Here’s what it is…

Motivation is a quite overrated and a less understood terminology. Let’s understand it biologically first. Motivation is an outcome of the release of a neurotransmitter in the brain called “Dopamine”. The release of this chemical promotes feelings of enjoyment, focus and overall wellbeing. As long as this chemical is being released into the body you will feel motivated. But more often than not this feeling is too volatile. People resort to thinking that just having a general drive to achieve something will lead to you achieving it. People tend to fall into short-term traps like listening to motivational talks, music, reading motivational books to get them into that state and continue to remain there, but sadly it does not and will never happen.  

I remember the days when I was fighting a physical and mental war with my ever plummeting health about 10 years before. I was declared as a vegetable by the doctors and I was getting disabled physically and mentally every day. I knew life was going out of my hands but there was still a hope within me that I can do something about it. I used to feed my mind with positivity and wellness and dodge my mind to feel that I am cured. I used to get a feel-good factor for some time but next morning when I wasn’t able to move out of bed, everything fell flat on the face. 

Doesn’t this happen with us all the time?

Be it our simple goals of inculcating good habits in us like taking a morning walk, meditating, practicing yoga, reading a page a day or even larger goals of life like happiness, achieving financial freedom, finding purpose in or work etc.. We all start our day trying to move an inch or even a centimetre towards our #perceived goals but by the time day ends, the motivation dies its natural death. Just the way it happened to me…

But when I incepted my journey of transformation, both physical and mental I realized that goals are achieved only when we are consistently inspired. Our efforts need to be channelized in a direction that leads us to our desired destination. My #Perception about motivation changed completely. It was an eye-opener:  

This is what I found and what you need to know:

Photo by Harry Quan on Unsplash

Let’s define motivation, a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way. It determines the amount of effort we put in to get to what we want to achieve. Along the journey, we find roadblocks, tollgates, bumps and sometimes dead ends too. But you need to work towards it no matter what. It is during this period that many people give up on their motivation, remember your New Year’s resolution? 🙂 

In 1964 Dr. Victor Vroom has defined beautifully under “Expectancy Theory”, here’s what he proposed; “an individual will behave or act in a certain way because they are motivated to select a specific behavior over other behaviors due to what they expect the result of that selected behavior will be.” 

Simply put:

                               Effort = Expectency1 X (Expectancy 2 x Valance)  

The amount of effort a person will put into achieving something is an outcome of the anticipated reward or expectation from the reward and its #perceived value (valance).Let’s take a step back and look at this equation again. 

1. In order to have an expectation from a reward, first, you need to have clarity on “what” is to be achieved only then can you expect a reward right? The first essential to being motivated is “WHAT DO YOU WANT??????” If you are not clear about it, your motivation level will always be superficial, you would never be able to crack through the gate and will end up in lethargy because your thinking will be divergent. It will never be condensed and focused because you will not know what are you sprinting for? And for how long can you sprint if you do not see a finish line? When I defined my what clearly it looked like this “I want to see myself back on my feet, walking straight and be able to get the grip of my hands back”

2. Fair, you have a clarity on “what you want to achieve?” but, what if it does not ring a bell in you? What if you get rewarded but it holds no value to you? Haven’t you seen in organizations where employees are being rewarded but they don’t really bother much about it, they definitely know the goal which will make them achieve it but there is no value attached to it? So, here’s the second essential, know you “WHY?” Why do you want something? Why is it so important for you? Here was my why,””I am not destined to be disabled, I want to lead a normal life.”

3. This one’s reaaaallllyy important and that is; take consistent and inspired #action towards your goals. Just like it’s said, “Rome was not built in a day” so are your goals not achieved overnight. Even if it is sailing or crawling do that every single day. There never was and never will be a substitute to #action in life. If this is in place you will have your Dopamine levels embedded in you… No more volatility, it will be your forever… Here’s what I did, “Practiced yoga regularly focussed at getting my limbs to become normal and avert getting further deformed. My practice was deliberate and focussed. I meditate every day to induce mindfulness and inner strength.” And after consistent action and practice, today, I walk straight and almost lead a normal and healthy life…. 

So here’s the essentials of being motivated consistently. People say, “The day I get motivated then I’ll do something.” The truth is “unless you #do you will never be motivated to do more..” It’s a loop one precedes the other. But for now, ask yourself, “Are you leading a motivated life?” “Do you know what you want to achieve and why?”