Motivation - How to Get Motivated

Our most basic personal instinct is to survive. To survive we adapt, learn and repeat learned behaviour.

Once we find a comfortable way to live we start to resist change. If we kept trying to change our approach to everything we would never progress and we would risk our survival. This makes us creatures of habit.

Motivation is a question of survival. We are motivated to avoid pain or to gain reward.

So, if it is that simple why do we struggle and how can you learn to get more personal motivation in your life?

To explain this further lets consider the carrot and stick idiom.

Carrots

Motivation for reward seems pretty straight forward. You want something, you work towards it, you get it. Yet if that is the case why are people dissatisfied and don't have what they want?

It is true that some things get in the way, but how often do we use that as an excuse? If you want to lose some weight what is stopping you? Surely the reward of fitness, better health and feeling good must be enough to move you to take action?

Sometimes the carrot just doesn't look tasty enough or seems too far out of reach. To be motivated enough to be driven for a reward we need to really want that carrot.

So how do you learn to want the carrot?

It is all about setting yourself goals to make it more real for yourself. Set yourself tangible, realistic and appropriate goals and you will find your carrot a lot more desirable. You will be able to smell it, imagine its sweet and juicy taste, see it clearly in all its beautiful orangeness. That carrot fills your vision, your thoughts and your dreams.

A Sticky Situation

Maybe you just can't get the carrot side of things to work. Perhaps the goal is just that bit too intangible or is something you know you must do but just cannot fire up the enthusiasm for.

What then? Well you will need to use the stick. So how do you use the stick to best affect?

Well, you can lightly tap yourself and hope that works or you can make it as big and scary as you like to frighten the wits out of you!

Using the dieting example - a light tap would be that you are not very attractive carrying around a few extra pounds and also you can no longer fit into clothes that you wore a year ago. The big heavy stick approach would be that if you don't lose some weight you are risking heart attacks, strokes and possibly even death.

Jacky Tustain
Founder and Owner BeCanDo Life Coaching
BeCanDo Life Coaching