Is your motivation at an all time low? Struggling to get started? Or perhaps you’ve got started with plans but motivation soon runs out? In this article and podcast I chat about how to get back your motivation. Discovering what are your core values and knowing your “WHY”. The real key to getting motivated and we’ll chat all about it.
The Most Common Question I’ve Been Asked
The most common question I’ve been asked is, “how to get motivated ?” This article I hope will help whether you are struggling now or in the future. Why we lose motivation can be for many reasons but the key is knowing how to get it back. Also how to discover your passion and the “WHY” that drives you. Knowing this is the reason you do what you do.
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Why can’t I get motivated?
With the challenges we sometimes face in life we can lose our motivation and spark. Bad news, lode of a loved one, loss of a job, and of course a pandemic. We may have good days and then some bad days, so why is motivation so temperamental?
Motivation is a state and considered an emotional state. Like all emotions, they change. Some days great others not so great. Feeling fired up but soon afterwards it dissipates. So if you are waiting to “feel” motivated, it may not come.
Getting motivated starts with why
To truly find motivation we must discover our “WHY”. Our “WHY” is the reason we do what we do. It is the motive behind our motivation. As I mention in my podcast, our “WHY” is our purpose, our passion, our driving force. When our “Why” is clear and strong enough, we keep moving even when we don’t feel motivated.
We all know what we do, we know how we do it. But we must never forget our why we do it. When you are clear with your core motivation its on the tough days it will be your fuel to keep things going.
Two Types of Motivation
Extrinsic & Intrinsic Motivation
There are two types of motivation and tis is something to be aware of.
Extrinsic motivation: This is when a person is motivated to take and action or perform a behaviour because of external factors such as rewards or punishment. For example when you are asked to do something and you do it because there is reward offered or punishment if you don’t do it. Extrinsic motivation is motivated by external things such as:
- Money
- Praise
- Competition
- Threat of a punishment
Intrinsic Motivation: This is when a person is motivated by internal factors to perform certain actions and behaviours and this is where your “Why” resides.
How to find your WHY?
Tips to help you discover what gets you motivated and find your core passion and purpose.
1. What makes you come alive?
What makes you come alive is not referring to taking your perfect dream holiday or watching your favourite movie. It is bigger than that. It’s about a why that moves you from being about you to being about something bigger than you. It’s about connecting with what you’re passionate about, what puts a fire in your belly, what makes you come alive.
2. Think back
Think back to the activities you did that made you forget about the passage of time. What did you love to do so much that you didnt mind spending a day off working on it?
3. When you were younger
Recall what you liked to do when you were younger. Maybe as a teenager, or child, or perhaps one summer you worked on a job that you just loved. This can shed light on the patterns of what you always are attracted to.
4. What are your innate strengths?
What are your skills or strengths that you have, or perhaps people have said to you that you are good at? These normally indicate what moves you.
5. Where do you add the greatest value?
When people are in their element they are not only more productive, but they add more value. Doing a job that you’re good at, but hate, is not the route to fulfilment. What do you do that people value and you enjoy. Identify the things you can do to make other people’s lives better
6. One year to live
Imagine what you would be doing if you learned that you only had a year left to live. What would you do that would make you feel it was a year well spent doing what you loved but also helped others.
7. Teach others
If you were given the chance to teach others (e.g. young people), what would you teach them? This is another way of looking at finding what makes you come alive.
8. What would you do for free
What task at work would you do for free if you didn’t need the to be paid?
9. Legacy
How will you measure your life? What do you believe would mean you lived a life true to you and would allow you say you lived a happy, content, fulfilled life? This may show you what you value and will help you find your core motivation, your why.
People who don’t stand for something, can easily fall for anything.
Knowing your WHY will compel you to take on challenges that will stretch you as much and even inspire you. It will cause you to grow but most importantly it will keep you focused and motivated.
Finding your “why” is important not only for success in your professional and personal life, but also for your well-being and longevity.
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