THE UNCONVENTIONAL GUIDE TO MASTER MOTIVATION

People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.

– Zig Ziglar

Motivation is defined as “the reason or reasons one has for acting or behaving in a particular way” and “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.”  

I’m so fascinated by what motivates people. I love to study people who are dominating their industries. Many times, I wonder.. What motivates a person to wake up at 4 AM in the morning and work hard til 7 PM at night? What motivates someone to exercise every single day or prep their meals every week? How does someone find the strength to be a successful salesperson after hearing the word “No” hundreds of times a day?

Why is it so damned hard to either GET MOTIVATED or STAY MOTIVATED?

What most people don’t get about motivation is its fluidity to come around and leave as quickly as our own moods can shift. We fail to understand that a lot of times, we have to do things we don’t really enjoy. I mean who enjoys doing the laundry? But it’s something that has to be done. And you do it (or at least I hope you do) despite having the motivation to do so. Why? Because no one likes wearing dirty clothes. You understand the benefits of it and therefore, you’ll muster up the energy to get it done. What about other tasks in our lives? Starting a business and maintaining a business is a tough job. There are days where you feel on top of the world, and then others where you feel the world has crushed your spirit. The motivation to put in 100% of effort is nowhere to be found.

The truth is there are some things we get excited about without being prompted and other things that make us groan and drag our feet. Motivation exists inside all of us. The question is, what brings out the motivation in you?

It’s not about finding the motivation or even forcing yourself to get motivated. We have trouble facing our truths and without the truth, how can you make successful changes in your life?

So, how do you tap into motivation when you don’t feel like it?

The easy route would be for me to give you the same generic list the vast majority of the internet is sharing with you… They’ll tell you to listen to your favorite playlist or go for a walk.

But, I’m better than that. And I’m on a mission to improve lives.

Our driving force varies. Some people manage to stay committed because they don’t want to let their family down. For others, money is their endgame. A person could be motivated by money, while someone else could be driven by personal goals. Some people are motivated by power and ownership, while others want to be of value. Being driven by events that happened in the past can be a powerful motivator.

There are a lot of components to understanding motivation that are emotional, social, biological, and cognitive.  All of these combined explain the WHYS of our behaviors.

Motivation is still HARD regardless of what you want to do from trying to finish seven loads of laundry to practice running for a marathon.

What I will tell you is to not look for a one size fits all answer because what drives you may not drive the next person. What fulfills one person may repel another person.

There is an underlying reason standing in the way of getting motivated or staying motivated.

Think of motivation as the FUEL we have to put in our cars (and you know we loveeeee our cars). 

We all know that a car requires fuel to operate. Without the fuel, the car will not go the distance. Let’s apply this reality to our own lives. Some of our goals aren’t too interesting or fun nor do they all come easy to us. But these goals represent the car. And we need the fuel to achieve our goals.

WHAT FUELS YOU?

Here’s my Unconventional Guide to Master Motivation

1 / OUTSMART YOUR BRAIN

Motivation is a mental head game where we tend to lose more often than not. Why? Before we make any moves, there’s an inner dialogue going on in our heads. We are asking ourselves questions, making promises, coming up with excuses, beating around the bush. The conversation playing in our head has the power to rule us. We are held captive by our minds without really even realizing it. It’s basically a tug of war between your mind and your body because ….the body acts once a decision is made. Motivation is psychological.

What I realized is that we haven’t figured out how to OUTSMART our brain so that we can get things done. How many times a week do you question yourself about an action that you KNOW you need to make? Sometimes taking that first step to get started is the hardest part.

STOP GIVING IN TO YOUR EXCUSES Click To Tweet

This is single-handedly one of the most common issues that sabotages our progress. Let’s say you fully planned to write an important email for work. Suddenly, you think to yourself, “I’m too tired to write an email.” But what you really mean is, “I want to binge watch five episodes of my favorite show rather than write an email.” The truth is, you aren’t too tired to write the email. But there are one or many reasons why you’ve chosen the TV binge watching fest instead of the email. In the television watching, one of your needs is being met. Therefore your belief is stronger and you’ll always choose to connect or act upon something you believe in. If you believe in your excuses, you will not change your behavior.  

Recognize the conversations that play out in your mind and how they are instrumental in talking you out of being committed to certain actions. You’ve got to learn to ignore all those conscious or unconscious stories in your head that asks dozens of questions and keeps you from taking action. 

DO THE TASK AND REJECT THE INNER CRITIC

All you would be doing is wasting precious time that could be used to get things done. Every time we give our mind even a second, it can find a dozen ways to dissect and question any and everything we do. Even the simple things like getting up earlier in the morning. Ignore those pesky doubt messages. Declare that you will be in the driver seat of your mind.

2 / UNDERSTAND MOTIVATION USING MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

I remember learning about Maslow’s theory of motivation while in undergrad as a Business Administration major in college. Maslow’s belief was that humans have five main needs:

 

It’s been theorized by researchers that human beings do not naturally enjoy work and therefore in the society we live in, there is a need for managers or upper management to provide motivation (incentives, etc.) to make workers more productive or content in their jobs. There are basic needs driving people to act whether its security, a sense of belonging, or a simplistic need to grow and learn. To put it mildly, there’s always a factor motivating us to take interest in something we normally wouldn’t care about. Make no mistake about it. We have the capacity to do the work. We want to go the extra mile to fulfill our goals. But, its the process that we find fault with and that can inspire feeling like giving up.

Apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to your own life. What needs are getting satisfied and what is being neglected right now?  Determine what is motivating you at this moment. Make a list of all the actions you struggle with versus the actions that come rather easy to you. How do you behave when you aren’t motivated? What kinds of clues can one look for in you?

I’ll give you an example. You can tell when an employee is dissatisfied with the state of their jobs and are not motivated to be productive workers. They call in, have attitudes, don’t communicate, come in late, or barely do their work.

Think about a task you’ve put off for weeks or months. In your heart, you really want to give this your undivided attention. But instead, you can’t seem to muster up the motivation to get started. It’s time to ask yourself why. 

3 / CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT THAT SUPPORTS YOUR GOALS AND ACTIONS

This is arguably one of the most debatable topics that ever existed. There are dozens of books about the spaces, places, and the people in them. In fact,  one of my very first classes in grad school revolved around whether or not the space was important or did the people make the space into a place (confusing, I know). But, it wasn’t until I visited California one summer that I understood how certain environments could bring out the best (or worse) in a person. During my summer in California, I walked a few miles regularly, went to bed early, watched my eating habits. Then I came back to my Southern home and all of those habits went to hell, lol. But, I realized that is just another excuse to do what I wanted and not hold myself accountable. Yes, I still feel that environment is important. But, I also know that you have the responsibility to design your own personal environment.

What this means is, if you are trying to adopt certain habits, make sure that you have the necessary tools to help you. Don’t say you want to lose weight and every time you open a cabinet a bag of Oreo’s fall out. Don’t spend your time with complainers or people who care less about you pursuing your dreams when you know it discourages you and brings you down. 

I am all about prepping and planning for success. It’s the only way to stay on top of your game. Once you plan, then prep (tools), and position yourself to achieve the best results.

What type of environment excites you? Does music get you pumped up to set goals? Does having a clutter-free space keep you sane? 

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS.

I hope this helps you reflect about how you can get motivated and moving towards greatness. How can you move forward to become more motivated in setting goals and making things happen in your life?