If you stick to any goal long enough and show patience, resilience and hard work, you will eventually get there. So motivation is an essential ingredient to success in any work. So what is motivation?
You have heard about ‘motive’. Motive means ‘reason’. So motivation means a reason to keep going. Suppose you want to achieve top marks in an examination. What gives you the motivation? There could be many factors.
Why do you need ‘motivation’ in your life?
First is the feeling of achievement. When you achieve something after a lot of hard work (in this case, a top rank), you feel like you are on top of the world.
Second, is self-confidence. When you achieve something that you’ve worked hard for, it boosts your self-confidence.
Third, it strengthens your will power. When you are gunning for something, you have to make a lot of sacrifices. But these sacrifices don’t go to waste. When you resist something, you get the power of the thing you resisted.
The fourth reason is honor. When you achieve a difficult thing, people change their perception of you. They start to respect you and look at you with adulation. Everyone wants a piece of you.
So there are many reasons to keep you motivated. So the question is, how to achieve your goals through motivation?
The two types of motivation
One of the biggest challenges to pursue your goal is finding the motivation to do so. If you want to achieve fitness, you should be motivated to exercise. If you want to get that promotion, you should be motivated to work extra hard.
Here, we must introduce you to two types of motivation- Intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation.
Carl Jung, the famous psychologist once said, ‘Those who look outside, dream. Those who look inside, awaken’. The Delphic Oracle also said the same thing- ‘Know thyself’. This ‘looking inside’ and ‘knowing thyself’ is critical to intrinsic motivation.
In intrinsic motivation, you want to achieve a goal because you want to, not because of some external factor. Extrinsic motivation is when you are motivated by an external factor to achieve a goal. This is the classic carrot and stick model.
Intrinsic motivation is always stronger than extrinsic motivation. So to achieve any goal, you should have strong internal motivation. Positive thinking can do wonders for goal achievement.
Why you need to be motivated every day
The irony is motivation waxes and wanes like the moon. It is not permanent. You need to keep giving yourself little doses of motivation everyday.
Remember what Mohammed Ali said, ‘I hated every moment of training. But I said to myself, take this pain today and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ So suffer today because you will certainly reap the fruits tomorrow.
