What motivates you?

Following on from my previous blog about the meaning of motivation, I’m now going to address the eternally important question – “What motivates you?”

What is it that encourages you to wake up every morning and climb out of bed with a smile on your face and a spring in your step ready to face the day ahead and tackle any challenges it might bring?

What gets you out of bed?! Photo Paul Hanaoka Unsplash

 For some it might be a fair wage. (We aren’t motivated by money! We need it, which is different). For others it might be helping other people. But whatever the case, we all have our own special motivations which help us become the characters we are and live the lives we do.

Let’s face it…we’ve all had moments in life when our motivation has been at an all-time low.

Even the most motivated of people can feel unmotivated now and then.

However, if you allow laziness to creep into your daily life, it’ll be impossible to achieve anything.

The difference between successful people versus everyone else is that no matter what’s going on around them, successful people find the motivation and drive to keep going.

So, let’s look at some of the things which influence your motivation.

Other people’s impressions

With an inherent incumbent desire to be valued and respected by others, what other people think can be important to all of us.

However, you shouldn’t dwell too much on this. Instead, turn the idea around and ask yourself the following questions:

·       Does the person have my best interests at heart?

·       Are they experienced with the thing I’m doing/want to do?

·       Have they already achieved what I’ve set out to do?

·       Are they qualified for giving me advice?

If you can seriously answer all these questions in a positive way, that’s great. But be aware, if you can’t that’s the reason you lack motivation – and regularly going through this exercise will definitely help change that.

Act

If you expect to be motivated at all, you must act one way or another.

It doesn’t matter whether your actions are small or big, the more you’re used to taking action to pursue the things you want, the more self-motivation you’ll have.

Who you surround yourself with

The habits you pick up from those around you tend to influence your motivation levels - and WHAT motivations you have.

Evaluate who you spend time with and decide whether to hang around them less or find new contacts who reflect your true motivations and where you want to be.

Are you surrounding yourself with the right people? Photo cdc-8 Unsplash

 What information you absorb

You can’t expect to be motivated if you constantly listen to depressing news stories.

So, ask yourself these questions:

·       What excites you?

·       What makes you happy?

·       What do you enjoy?

It could be listening to podcasts on your favourite topic, watching entertaining YouTube videos in the morning that make you laugh, reading an educational book or something else that has a positive effect on your mood and mindset.

But whatever it is, make sure it’s valuable, useful, and helpful in some way.

Your beliefs

Ask yourself these questions:

·       Are my beliefs helpful?

·       Which of my beliefs are holding me back?

·       If it’s not helpful, who taught me to think this way?

·       What’s the reason I’ve chosen to believe this?

·       How can I change my beliefs? What’s the best method?

Pursue your goal

Ask yourself these questions:

·       What’s stopping me from pursuing my goals?

·       What small first step can I take to pursue my goals?

·       What do I want to accomplish more than anything else?

·       What drives me?

·       What’s the “why” behind my goal?

·       Who can help me?

Whatever you do, always pursue a goal that inspires you 

This way you’ll be naturally self-motivated - without the need to “find” something to motivate you.

Look out for the next in our series of blogs –The Importance of Motivation.

If you’d like to explore the subject of motivation more deeply, please contact me via Email: russell@theresiliencecoach.co.uk.