Do you find yourself lacking in motivation? We all go through slumps now and then. However, a long-lasting lack of motivation can set you back in your goals and leave you feeling stuck. However, to increase your motivation, it helps to understand what is causing your lack of motivation in the first place. If you understand the science of motivation, it will help you understand what you need to do to have more of it.
Definition Of Motivation
Motivation is what initiates, guides, and maintains our goals and behaviors. Without motivation, you will not accomplish much. You won’t reach your goals or meet deadlines without the motivation to take action. Lack of motivation leads to procrastination and is often a result of living a stressed life and burnout.
We all have a list of things that we need to do on any given day. We do not want to do most of those things on the list, yet they are part of our responsibilities in life. If you lack the desire to do these things, you most likely lack the motivation to complete these items on your to-do list. But, if you learn to increase your motivation, you will be more likely to accomplish more of the things on your list.
The Four Types Of Motivation
There are four types of motivation that cause drive, ambition, and focus on commitments. Understanding these different types of motivation will increase your awareness and ability to increase your motivation.
- Extrinsic Motivation. This is an external influence that impels people to act a certain way. External influences may include rewards, prizes, or promotions. Some people tend to find their motivation in being rewarded for what they accomplish. If this describes you, it’s a good idea to set small goals and reward yourself after you meet the goal. You will look forward to that reward and push yourself to meet your goal or do the work you are avoiding.
- Intrinsic Motivation. This is an internal motivation and is believed to align with your values or the pleasure of completing a task or hitting a goal. Rewards that reflect your values, for example, are recognition. Examples like “employee of the month” or receiving accolades from upper management are a form of intrinsic motivation. Working harder for that bonus at work is an example as well.
- Introjected Motivation. This is another internal motivation, like intrinsic motivation. However, it is a negative form of motivation. It results from non-action or a job done poorly or not at all, which leads to feeling guilty. It’s similar to negative reinforcement and often occurs in a toxic work environment. An example is a manager that makes comments about someone who did a poor job. The statement intends to bring on feelings of guilt to motivate people to do a better job. The person then internalizes their feelings, such as anger, fear, and confusion. They may feel like they can never do anything right or never please the manager. People who are victims of manipulative behavior, passive-aggressive attitudes, or bullying may form introjected motivation.
- Identified Motivation. This type of motivation occurs as feeling the need to perform or complete a task, yet not acting on this need. This form of motivation is intrinsic and prepares the person to take action. It results from the influence of another’s behavior, such as reward or punishment. For example, if you know that a healthy diet and exercise may decrease your disease risk, give you more energy and boost your immune system, you may feel motivated to make healthy changes. However, if it were that easy, there would not be so many people living an unhealthy lifestyle. Some people are more motivated when they watch a loved one die from a disease they could have prevented if they lived a healthier lifestyle.
Three Elements Of Motivation
There are three elements of motivation according to the best-selling book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, by author Daniel H. Pink. He writes about the three components of motivation that drive people to get things done.
- Autonomy – The amount of control or independence a person feels about a certain task or action. When you feel that you have a significant amount of input regarding the task, you are more likely to follow through to completion.
- Value – The amount of personal significance or importance you place on a matter. For instance, if something matters to you personally, you are more likely to take on that task and complete it. You may be less likely to complete tasks assigned to you, but you feel no connection or importance to it.
- Competence – This comes from the feeling of mastering something because of practice and hard work, not necessarily talent or natural ability. If it comes easy to you, it may not feel as important as if you invested a lot of time and energy into mastering it.
Increase Your Motivation
Now that you understand the different types of motivations and the components of what drives you to get things done, you can use this knowledge to your benefit. Evaluate yourself and develop the best strategies to help you increase and maintain your motivation to get things done.
Autonomy
Using autonomy as your guide, consider ways to add a sense of control or involvement into activities you need to complete. One way is to take ownership of a chore and add some aspect of self-direction to it. If you are struggling to start a project, such as creating your webinar or writing your next podcast script, it may help if you think of how doing so will set you apart as an expert in your field. When you think about the finished project and how it will impact other people’s lives, it will help motivate you to get it done.
Value
To add value to your task, find a way to make it meaningful and personal. Find a way to add purpose to that item on your to-do list. You may need to change your perspective or the way you look at each item on your list. Instead of saying “I have to…”, say “I get to…”. This changes your perspective of a chore that you don’t feel like doing into an attitude of gratefulness for the blessings of doing these tasks.
For example, completing your taxes is a dreaded chore, but you can add purpose to it by focusing on the work you’ve done that compiles all of those numbers on the pages. Think about the contributions you have made to your family and community through your work. Paying your taxes is a way to look at your hard-earned money and how that income was a blessing to you and your family in the past year.
Competence
Finally, there’s competence. Feeling the mastery of an activity requires practice. Try to look at the job at hand as one in which you are working toward an end goal of skillfulness. For example, you can look at the treadmill as an adversary the more workout sessions you endure. Along with the ultimate goal of getting fit, you will see each session get easier. That leads to a feeling of accomplishment. You will feel how your body changes and your energy levels rise as you meet your fitness and health goals.
Final Thoughts
Motivation is not always easy to come by. However, with the knowledge of what drives you, you can now follow the steps to pursue your dreams more effectively. Soon you will master your goals, which will fuel your motivation toward your future goals. Once you achieve one goal, it’s time to set another goal. Keep growing and developing so you don’t remain stagnant. Now go out there and crush your goals!