Motivation

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could wake up every morning and instead of putting sugar or milk in our coffee or tea we could add a little bit of motivation that would last all day long.  Unfortunately no such thing exists.

If we could design a motivation we could take what would be the ingredients.  What would be the conditions for this magic item to work. How might we replicate the ingredients and conditions with no magic involved.

What we do know is that certain conditions need to be meet. There are three major components to motivation. Activation, persistence and intensity. We are activated by a need or desire. We persistent through a variety of hurdles or challenges. The intensity of that need or desire determines the effort we put into achieving these goals.

 Maslow believed that first we need our basic needs of food shelter and health before we can start shooting for the star of self actualization.  Maslow was not alone in this thinking biological psychology suggest similarly that the biological needs and basic social needs are important motivators if these needs are not meet motivation for other goals are not high. 

What about those other things what might they be. These might include things like mastery of somewhat difficult tasks that give us a sense of increased competence these might be driven by competition with others or yourself. That is striving to be the best version of yourself. 

These higher level things can be intrinsic or extrinsic that is to obtain a trophy for example or to have the world record is external to achieve your personal best just for the sense of achievement.

Another thing to be aware of is your arousal level if you have too higher arousal level you may fail if your arousal level is too low you will lose motivation. If you feel your arousal level is to high you can lower it by employing calming techniques if your arousal level is too low you can employ techniques to heighten it. This might include going for a run or reading a motivational quote or have a saying to push yourself into action. 

If the task is achievable this will increase motivation however if the task is too difficult your motivation level will drop. This is why when we are aiming to change our behaviours we set a series of achievable goals or steps that end with that final achievement.

An example of this is my own view of studying. In the back of my mind I have the long term goal of getting a PhD however I try not to focus too heavily on this. This is a huge challenge and if I think too much about it I become paralyzed with all of the work involved in obtaining this goal. Instead I focus on the immediate steps I need to complete this might be as small as doing one paragraph a day to finish a lab report or perhaps even less of step for example just writing a list of points I want to make in the essay and then write one good leading sentence.

If I do one step at a time perhaps I will finish the marathon if I  do not finish then I have tried my best at every stage of the race.

In conclusion how do we create our own magic motivation. Take good care of our biological needs, set small achievable goals and reward ourselves by recognising how well we are doing. Stay connected with our social support systems and view failures as opportunities for learning and persistent with the marathon