You often hear people say “I just don’t have the motivation” or “I need more motivation”. They talk about motivation as if it is a ‘thing’ that they either have or need. Many of us think in this way. This starts to become a problem when we confuse this way of thinking with how it really is. Motivation is not a thing we can get from a motivation store, it is not something we can lose somewhere for someone else to help us find.
Motivating yourself is a strategy that you do instinctively and much of the time unconsciously. This can be to varying degrees of success depending on the circumstances and conditions. Think of this strategy as a series of thoughts (and sometimes actions) that generate a feeling or a state of being motivated. You could measure the intensity of this state on an imaginary scale of 0 to 100.
A motivation strategy is like a computer programme that can run in the background. It has an input in the form of an idea. This idea may come from your own desire to do something, or it could be triggered by a request from someone else. There are a set of variables: the images, sounds and feelings relating to the idea. There is some form of process where you are thinking about the activity. There may be several loops within this process. Eventually the programme finishes, resulting in an output: the action you take.
When we are thinking about doing something, we run a movie in our mind. We imagine what we think it will be like to do that activity, we may have some internal dialogue about it, or imagine what people will say. Someone who is motivated to go for a bike ride on a summer day, may imagine what it will be like riding their bike in the sunshine and feeling the wind on their face. They may imagine stopping for lunch, meeting friends and enjoying exercising. They will generate a pleasurable state that drives them to make the effort.
Experiment
There are somethings that you are easily motivated to do, such as going out to dinner, playing a sport or going away for a weekend break. Think of something now that you are looking forward to doing in the next few days. When you think about it, what do you notice? What images come to mind? Do you imagine yourself doing it? Do you imagine what it will be like to have done it? What feelings do you associate with this activity? Are they uncomfortable feelings or pleasant feelings? Perhaps feelings of anticipation, excitement, satisfaction or something else? How intense are they? Did you notice the more you thought about this activity the stronger the feelings became?
Now think of something that you are having trouble motivating yourself to do. Perhaps it is something you want to do or think that you should do, but just can’t seem to get yourself motivated. What do you notice when you think about having to do it? What images come to mind? What feelings do you associate with this task?
Now compare the two activities. What were the differences in the way you thought about each activity? How are the images different? Is there a difference in the content of each movie? Are you running the movie all the way to the end where you completed the activity in each case? Was your internal dialogue different? How were your feelings different in each case? You may notice that your feelings about the first activity were stronger.
The mechanics of motivation
The process of motivating ourselves has two distinct drivers. We are all naturally motivated towards pleasure and away from pain. This basic mechanism is a key component that drives the feeling of being motivated to do something or not.
Make a list of three things that you are easily motivated to do and three things that you are finding it difficult to motivate yourself to do. In each case, think about how you are motivating yourself. Are you driven by pain or by pleasure? Very often it will be a portion of both. Notice how your motivation strategy is working in each case.
Procrastination
There are some things that you know you have to do but you really don’t want to and you procrastinate. You put off doing them for as long as you can. For example, some people complete their tax return as soon as possible while others procrastinate. They will leave it until the very last minute, as they associate doing the tax return with something that is painful. It gets to the stage where if they don’t do something about it, they won’t get it in on time and there will be a fine to pay, which is more pain! They only take action when they get to the point where the pain of not doing it is greater than the pain of sitting down and sorting it out.
Good strategies
Some people find it easy to motivate themselves and they achieve most of the outcomes they desire. These people have a good strategy for building a strong motivating state. Even though each of us has our own unique way of motivating ourselves, there are some common components in good motivation strategies.
The way you think about a task will have a strong effect on how you feel about it and therefore how motivated you are. You will tend to find it easier to motivate yourself when you think you will be able to complete it successfully. This is because we generally associate success with pleasure and failure with pain. You will also find it more motivating when you think you will enjoy doing it or you think the result is worth it.
You will also find it more motivating when you imagine what it will be like to have been successful. If you are thinking about what could go wrong, use this as a way to plan for a contingency rather than a way to make yourself feel bad. Think about the aspects that you will enjoy or that will make you feel good in some way. What pleasure will you get from doing this? What will having done this give you? When you imagine yourself doing well, imagine watching this movie on a 3D iMax screen with surround sound and intensify the good feelings. You may need to also think about the consequences. What pain will you feel by not doing it? Run this as a movie and intensify the painful feelings just enough to give you some extra propulsion. Think about what you say to yourself and the tonality you use for your internal dialogue. Some people refer to this as their inner coach. If you were trying to encourage someone else or a child, would this be the best way?
However you are motivating yourself, it is a good idea to review your strategy from time to time and refine it where necessary. Remember that motivation is not a thing, it is a process. It is something you are doing consciously and unconsciously. When it comes to motivating others, how you present ideas will influence how they think and feel about the things you are asking them to do.
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