Motivation is what propels us to do things, push us to keep working towards set goals and guide us in tough times. Motivation is a very powerful but precarious tool. Its easy to get motivated when you are excited about what you are going to do. But mostly, motivating yourself is difficult and one feel stuck in the vicious cycle of self-doubt and procrastination. We as human beings tend to be more disinclined towards tenacity.
Motivating one’s self to do something productive is what differentiate successful people from everybody else. Undoubtedly, every decision we make about doing something productive to reach a certain goal will require a plan of action and when we are motivated, we are ready to put up with inconveniences that come with it instead of doing nothing. This is the main spirit of motivation that at one point doing nothing becomes a greater suffering once we cross our mental threshold.
These strategies can help you get moving even when you feel unmotivated:
Set and Define your goals:
The primary step towards getting and staying motivated is setting and clearly defining the goals you want to achieve, not drudgery. Behind every goal, there is a right reason and If you don’t identify that reason for embarking on certain journey after carefully analyzing, your motivation will soon lose momentum before you can reach your goal.
By setting a goal, you become decisive about achieving something and act in the desired way. The focus is one-directional with a desired end result. Goals are what put your abstract ideas into mode of operation. They are critical in turning your planning into execution.
Goals with specific targets are much more effective than mere ambiguous, theoretical ambitions. If possible, its better to incorporate intrinsic motivation in the goals as it makes it more interesting and enjoyable. Research also shows better chances of success in intrinsic ones.
Carefully select goals that you are genuinely interested in. And if not possible under some circumstances, focus on elements of the goal that seems fascinating to you. Then, publicizing this goal will come across as a commitment that keeps reinforcing the motivation. An important key to remember is the break down of goal into smaller, manageable and achievable tasks that will also inspire confidence.
- Having Rewards in place :
Rewards are set in place to stop us from dreading the work required towards achieving some goal. But its important to decide on some benchmark which needs to be achieved that would justify getting the reward. The more you recompense yourself on completion of tasks, the more motivated you get for achieving more. Rewards work as excellent external motivators especially when the tasks are onerous, but be cautious in order of not setting reasonable incentives.
The rewards should be of the same nature as the important characteristic of the task. For example, quantity should not be rewarded when quality is the prime focus. Be attentive to incentive traps in which the reward itself subvert the main goal achieved. When some people accomplish a goal, it makes them give in to urges or act on impulses which gives them a setback. If we talk about effectiveness of external motivators, unknown rewards are more motivating then known ones as people deem them more interesting. Individuals can ask their loved ones to set rewards for them. Lastly, averting loss can be a better motivator than gaining rewards and incentives.
- Recognizing and sustaining progress:
When you start embarking on the journey of achieving your goal, motivation is at its peak. From there on, it goes down stalling the journey. But luckily, there are some ways through which this can be fought. Known as short-middles, goals are broken down into sub-goals which are more manageable and achievable. This way, achieving these mini-milestones uplift the morale and motivation before you have time to surrender to the slump. These smaller activities of achieving goals especially long-term ones are important to track the progress. With time, you look at these progresses in a bigger perspective and see where you stand and how far away it is from the final destination.
Another way to recognize how far you have made in order to motivate yourself is to think that your journey from the start that is even before you took action for instance the deciding or planning phase. This is because, with a longer journey you feel more close towards the end goal and are motivated to spear no effort. Shifting your perspective from dreading how much needs to be done to what you have done so far can provide a breath of fresh air.
Harness the Influence of Others
When we talk about motivation, the social influence of people surrounding us become somewhat complicated. People actions around us influence the way we act and react. When we see success and progression of peers, colleagues and family members we respond in either of two ways. One, we are motivated to do better as well and it inspires confidence in us that we can learn from their actions. Second, we are demotivated that the other person can do the task better and we stop trying.
People can prosper by identifying their unique selling point and capitalizing on the competitive advantage they have. To use influence of our social circle positively, ask the enterprising people around you about their perspectives on different things and what advice they can give you. This will broaden your horizon. Don’t just watch them idly and get demotivated.
Lastly, harnessing positive social influence is to accept the fact that people who increase your motivation and helps you in achievement of certain tasks and goals are not necessarily able to those tasks or can do them better than you. They are just their to share their vision that you can resonate with. Adopt the approach of being triumph on their behalf as well which is a strong intrinsic motivator.