An essay on Motivation
By Vali Basha Shaik
“Those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything” – George Bernard
Shaw
Motivation is a psychological feature
that arouses an organism to act towards a his desired goal and elicits,controls
and sustains goal directed behaviours.It can be considered a driving force.It’s
a psychological feature that compels or reinforces an action toward a desired
goal.For example,hunger is a motivation that elicits a desire to eat.
Motivation has been shown to have its roots in
physiological,behavioral,cognitive and social areas.Motivation optimizes one’s
well-being,minimizes physical pain and maximizes pleasure to attempt his/her
target.Motivation is an inner drive to behave in a certain manner. “It’s the
difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing
around the house all day.”
How To Motivate Yourself – Self Motivation
Staying
motivated is a struggle — our drive is constantly assaulted by negative
thoughts and anxiety about the future. Everyone faces doubt and depression.
What separates the highly successful is the ability to keep moving forward.
There is no
simple solution for a lack of motivation. Even after beating it, the problem
reappears at the first sign of failure. The key is understanding your thoughts
and how they drive your emotions. By learning how to nurture motivating
thoughts, neutralize negative ones, and focus on the task at hand, you can pull
yourself out of a slump before it gains momentum.
Reasons we lose Motivation
There are 3
primary reasons we lose motivation.
- Lack of confidence – If you don’t believe you can succeed, what’s the point in trying?
- Lack of focus – If you don’t know what you want, do you really want anything?
- Lack of direction – If you don’t know what to do, how can you be motivated to do it?
How to Boost Confidence
The first
motivation killer is a lack of confidence. When this happens to me, it’s
usually because I’m focusing entirely on what I want and neglecting what I
already have. When you only think about what you want, your mind creates
explanations for why you aren’t getting it. This creates negative thoughts.
Past failures, bad breaks, and personal weaknesses dominate your mind. You
become jealous of your competitors and start making excuses for why you can’t
succeed. In this state, you tend to make a bad impression, assume the worst
about others, and lose self confidence.
The way to
get out of this thought pattern is to focus on gratitude. Set aside time to
focus on everything positive in your life. Make a mental list of your
strengths, past successes, and current advantages. Set
aside time to think about the positive side of your life.We tend to take our strengths for granted and dwell on our
failures. By making an effort to feel grateful, you’ll realize how competent
and successful you already are. This will rejuvenate your confidence and get
you motivated to build on your current success.When you truly believe that you
deserve success, your mind will generate ways to achieve it. The best way to
bring success to yourself is to genuinely desire to create value for the rest
of the world.
Developing Tangible Focus
The second
motivation killer is a lack of focus. We often focus on
what we don’t want,rather than on a concrete goal.We normally think in terms of fear. I’m afraid of being poor.
I’m afraid no one will respect me. I’m afraid of being alone. The problem with
this type of thinking is that fear alone isn’t actionable. Instead of doing
something about our fear, it feeds on itself and drains our motivation.
If you’re
caught up in fear based thinking, the first step is focusing that energy on a
well defined goal. By defining a goal, you automatically define a set of
actions. If you have a fear of poverty, create a plan to increase your income.
It could be going back to school, obtaining a higher paying job, or developing
a profitable website. The key is moving from an intangible desire to concrete,
measurable steps.
By focusing
your mind on a positive goal instead of an ambiguous fear, you put your brain
to work. It instantly begins devising a plan for success. Instead of worrying
about the future you start to do something about it. When know what you want,
you become motivated to take action.
Developing Direction
The final
piece in the motivational puzzle is direction. If focus means having an
ultimate goal, direction is having a day-to-day strategy to achieve it. A lack
of direction kills motivation because without an obvious next action we succumb
to procrastination. An example of this is a person who wants to have a popular
blog, but who spends more time reading posts about blogging than actually
writing articles.
The key to
finding direction is identifying the activities that lead to success. For every
goal, there are activities that pay off and those that don’t. Make a list of
all your activities and arrange them based on results. Then make a make an
action plan that focuses on the activities that lead to big returns. Keeping
track of your most important tasks will direct your energy towards success.
Without a constant reminder, it’s easy to waste entire days on filler
activities like reading RSS feeds, email, and random web surfing.
When my
motivation starts to wane, I regain direction by creating a plan that contains
two positive actions. The first one should be a small task you’ve been meaning
to do, while the second should be a long-term goal. I immediately do the
smaller task. This creates positive momentum. After that I take the first step
towards achieving the long-term goal. Doing this periodically is great for
getting out of a slump, creating positive reinforcement, and getting long-term
plans moving.
It’s
inevitable that you’ll encounter periods of low energy, bad luck, and even the
occasional failure. If you don’t discipline your mind, these minor speed bumps
can turn into mental monsters. By being on guard against the top 3 motivation
killers you can preserve your motivation and propel yourself to success.
Strategies
for Motivation That Work!
- Set goals. Be sure they are realistic and achievable. Make them small to start.
- Establish rewards for progress toward your goals.
- Expect set-backs and when they happen, re-direct and renew your energy toward your goals. Don’t give up.
- Use the power of positive thinking and believe in yourself. Overcome discouragement.
- Tell others what you are trying to accomplish and seek support from loved ones.
- Learn to say no to options and distractions that deter you from your goal. Obstacles are what you see when you take your eyes off the goal.
- Establish routine and regular exercise; meditation, prayer or yoga, even if it is only 15 minutes a day to start. This will help you to cultivate discipline.
- Use positive imagery to help you achieve your goals. Imagine yourself as you will be and feel when your goal is achieved.
- Spend time reflecting or talking to others about what has stopped you from achieving your goals in the past.
- Post reminders and inspirational quotes in prominent places about what you want to achieve.
- Get professional help and support to overcome physical or mental roadblocks (depression and anxiety are just two examples) and to bolster your efforts, no matter how small they may seem.
- Practice extreme self care. Good health is essential to positive thinking and feeling, which will take you a long way toward achieving your goals.
Mean ings:-
Driving force = a thing that has a very strong
affect to happen something
Elicit = (here)to get a
reaction from something
Reinforce = to make an action stronger or more powerful
Optimize = to make something
positive
Cognitive = relating to how people
think,understand and learn something
Drive = effort; when
someone makes a great effort to achieve something
Assaulted = attacked
Nurture = encourage
Gratitude = (here) feeling greatful for
one’s own abilities,strengths
Ambiguous = vague; unclear
Rejuvenate = to make someone/something
energetic
Distort = change the appearance
of something
Tangible = which is real and can be
seen touched or measured or noticed
Strategy = process;plan
Blog = a record of your
thoughts that you put on the internet
for others to read
Succumb = yield
Procrastination = postponement
Wane = become less
powerful,important or popular
Slum = failure
Inevitable = unavoidable
Encounter = come across ; face
Set-backs = failures
Bumps =
hurdles;barriers;problems
Propel = cause someone to do an
activity; encourage someone to do an action
Bolster = support
