After my last article, I received a respond from one of my readers, asking me what is self-motivation and how to sustain it over a long period of time?
Self-motivation is the process of discovering what you need, and want out of yourself, your work, your life, your family, your social contacts, and your environment that stimulates your energy, actions, and emotional state of mind.
As a process, it is a form of personal planning and implementation that dramatically increases the likelihood that you will achieve your goals and attain your most desired states of being.
If we lack motivation, we essentially lack the one major tool required for success in life. Can we be successful without it? Maybe, but not likely. Motivation is needed to produce actual results, to produce change with a reason, and to create and sustain lifelong happiness and satisfaction.
Now, let me continue to demystify the remaining 3 myth of personal motivation:
Myth 4: When I achieve X, then only I’ll be motivated
Some people have the belief that once they achieve a certain state of being, buy a new house or new car, get married, get a new job, start a business; they will enter a different emotional place that will make self-motivation easier and more frequent. This is called “contingent” motivation, meaning their motivation is based on some event or state of being. Unfortunately, this simply is not the case. As conditions change, so do our expectations. Success is great, but can lead to greater expectations, more stress, less happiness, and reduced not increased motivation. Motivation is better when it comes from a place of “transcendent” motivation, meaning it is not based on others or outside events, or states of being, it happens because the individual chooses to be motivated. If you want to experience a truly self-motivated state of being, you need to find a place of motivation from within that is unconditional.
Myth 5: It takes major life events to change the needs for motivation
With the advent of the “personal empowerment” movement, there came a belief that people needed major “life experiences” such as exposure to new things, experiencing different perspectives, personal tragedy, or personal success in order to provide motivation or provide different types of motivation: A “go to Mount Everest to be motivated” philosophy. Certainly, major life experiences can be motivating, but so can hearing your children laugh, watching a good movie, hearing a thank you from a co-worker, or helping the needy people. Big motivation events, because they are big, should be cherished, but little motivation events are the foundational fuel that provides ongoing motivation. As a Solution Focused practitioner, I always encourage people to enjoy and appreciate the little things in life as those little things can provide you with the fuel you need to keep going.
Myth 6: Everyone is motivated by money
This last myth is pervasive and misguided. Does money motivate people to act or behave differently? Sometimes. Does it always work to motivate people? No. Are all people motivated by money? Only to an extent. Studies throughout history have shown that only about 20 percent of the population is always motivated by money. For the rest, once the security needs of an individual are met, meaning the person has enough to eat, a place to sleep, some basic needs, money becomes less of a motivating factor.
Once this occurs, people have a greater need for other things like personal significance, faith, and more. My mentor once told me that I shouldn’t be focusing on chasing after money as my motivation, instead I should be focusing on becoming the very best in what I do in my industry. That should be my direction and motivation because once you become the top 3 in your industry, the money will automatically come after you! I remember his great advice till today!
After understanding the myths of personal motivation, now you are ready to unleash the driving force within you. Everyone needs positive motivation for consistent peak performance. We need motivation to persevere through tough times and response bravely against adversity. The secret to maintain personal motivation is your desires inside you. I will explain more on the intrinsic factors that generate your desires in my follow-up article, stay tune!
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