Do you find it difficult to build and sustain your motivation, day in and day out? Well, as always, we have your back!
In this article, we’re debunking all the myths about motivation and talking about what it actually is and how to properly use it.
So let’s get straight to the point. This is how you build and sustain motivation!
Don’t worry if you don’t feel like reading, you can enjoy the video below or watch the video on YouTube:
What is motivation?
Let’s kick things off with a proper explanation of what motivation actually is.
You see, motivation is a more complex feeling than you give it credit for.
It’s not the rush you feel when you put your mind to something. Nor is it the excitement you feel when you’re about to do something you truly enjoy.
Instead, motivation has four distinct elements. (Side note – the last element is quite surprising, and no, this is not bait)
The first element is competence.
Or, in other words, believing you have the ability to complete the thing you want to achieve. Without it, you won’t be able to build motivation.
Imagine there’s a flat wall in front of you, and someone asks you to climb it with no tools whatsoever.
It seems like an impossible task because it is.
And since you see no way of climbing the wall and completing the task, it’s impossible to find any motivation to even try.
This is one of the reasons why people in poor financial situations have a hard time getting out of them.
The second element is control.
When your mom told you to clean your room back when you were a kid, you didn’t do it because you weren’t motivated to.
You did it because you were told to. Or, in other words, you had no control over the situation.
However, you couldn’t choose when to do it, how to do it, or what the desired outcome was.
When it’s hard to link your actions to desired outcomes, you can’t find any motivation to do it.
Corporations are a great example of this.
Statistically speaking, most office workers waste most of their time. And why wouldn’t they?
If they do mediocre work, nobody notices, and if they do great work, again, nobody notices.
Or they notice and give them even more work. Without control, you can’t build motivation.
The third element is value.
Is the thing you’re trying to do actually valuable to you? Do you actually need it?
Do you have some interest in the reward you’ll get from doing the thing?
If not, you’ll find no reason to do it. It’s just that simple.
And the last and most surprising element – Relatedness
You see, we all want to be associated with a group that we find interesting and inspiring.
In fact, think about: entrepreneurs, mentors, rags to riches, athletes, and leaders.
When you hear these words, something sparks in your mind. It’s the desire to be like some of them.
The answer to “What do you want to be when you grow up” is never an individual, but a group of people, or an idea that’s associated with a particular lifestyle.
In fact, nobody actually wants to be like a particular rich person.
They want to be like a group of people who don’t have to worry about money ever again and get to do all those things they wanted to do when they were kids.
The desire to be part of something bigger than you, and in this case, a group of people, is incredibly strong.
When athletes go through rigorous training and discipline, they don’t do it to become the next Usain Bolt or the next Lebron James.
They do it to become champions. It has a different feeling to it. That feeling is what fuels your drive and ambition and builds your motivation.
And for this feeling to be fully charged, you need to hit all four of these elements. So that’s the true definition of motivation.
It’s a set of circumstances that together create a pool of energy you can tap to become more disciplined and resilient.
So with all this being said, where do you find this type of energy?
Where does it come from? Well, there are two sources.
External motivation vs Internal motivation
External motivation comes from, you guessed it, external factors.
And in most cases, it comes when you are not enough. When you’re not strong enough to stand up for yourself.
Or when you’re not confident enough to follow your own dreams. Or when you’re not rich enough to build the life that you want.
Essentially, it’s when your life stinks and you’re tired of it.
You finally say “You know what? Enough is enough”.
You learn to hate life to the point where you want to get revenge on existence itself like a great person once said. It’s a bit of a drastic take, but you get the point.
If you look back at your life, you will find moments when you said, “You know what? I’ll show them”. That’s what external motivation feels like.
The world makes you feel in a way that you hate, and you turn that negative energy into a positive one.
However, this is just one side of the coin.
And it would be a bit silly to wait to feel miserable until you did something about it.
It’s also a temporary source of energy that can help you build motivation.
That’s where internal motivation comes in.
You see, as opposed to external motivation, internal motivation comes from within. From your own person.
You make a concussion decision to change something for the better. Nobody tells you to do it, and nobody is forcing you either. It’s all you.
The good part of this internal motivation is that it’s long-lasting. The bad part is that it’s extremely hard to obtain.
And that’s because it requires you to do things for your own sake.
And we as humans are notoriously bad at this, for some reason.
A lot of you are still working from home. Be honest; are you still wearing the clothes you just slept in? After all, if no one can see you, why not?
You see, doing things for your own sake requires you to regularly hold yourself to higher standards.
It requires you to look at something about yourself that you don’t like and say: “Why am I doing this? I’m not that kind of person; I’m better than this.”
And this level of introspection is rare nowadays because people usually avoid talking to themselves in a meaningful way.
But if you want to truly harvest the full power of motivation, you need to move past this and conquer the fear of being honest with yourself.
- You know you can do better.
- You know you have enough time.
- You know you are smart and capable enough.
- You also know that it probably won’t even be that hard, once you get started.
In the end, this leads us to the biggest hurdle you have to jump over.
The Notorious, Highly Difficult First Step
We all know that the first step is always the hardest.
Moreover, people have been waiting for the right moment to do something for thousands of years. And it never comes!
The reality is, the reason the first step is the hardest is actually pretty simple and straightforward. It’s called the comfort of the status quo.
You see, we are creatures of habit. We get used to things being a certain way, and we find it difficult to make a change, even if that change is clearly for the better.
In fact, the comfort of the situation you’re already in will always feel better than the change you’ll have to make. This is a difficult hurdle to overcome in order to build motivation.
That’s why people stay in toxic relationships or at shitty jobs where they’re underpaid and disrespected. If they were to turn back time, they would never make that choice again.
But since they are already in it, well, it is what it is.
You see, breaking a habit is just as hard as adopting a new one. You’ll always find reasons not to challenge your current reality.
Yeah, the job stinks, but it’s not that bad, and at least you have somewhere to work.
Sure, your significant other makes you question the existence of demons, but hey, at least you have a +1 at events.
Yeah, you went a bit overboard lately, and your heart rate is unusual for someone your age, but hey, nowadays it’s all about body positivity, right?
There’s always going to be a reason to stay well within the comfort of your current situation. And that reason is what chains you down and leaves you unable to build motivation and confidence.
That’s the reason why the first step is so incredibly hard. So how do you move past this?
The best solution we found was a mix of sheer willpower and peer pressure.
Look at your inner circle and find things in your friends’ lives that you’d also like to do.
Just tell them: “Hey, the thing you’re doing, I want to do it too, but I find it hard to make the first step. Can you take me with you? You’d be surprised how quickly people respond to this.
As for willpower, that’s all you, baby.
Give yourself two slaps over the face and get to it. Fight through the discomfort of change and take that first step!
We believe in you! And because we know how hard it can be to make it by yourself, especially when you’re just beginning, we created the perfect mentor to guide you through the process.
That mentor is the Alux app. We designed it specifically to help you stay on track and by doing that, cutting the time it takes you to get from zero to hero in HALF!
91% of our users have achieved their primary goal already. What are you waiting for? Download the Alux app and start your 7-day free trial!
And to end this article with a nugget of wisdom:
Life will happen, and things won’t go your way every single time. It’s really important not to let one mistake jeopardize all the work you’ve done.
When you start using motivation to make changes in your life, think of it like “This is who I am from now on” rather than “This is who I am for the next three months”.
Equally important, even if you fall back into your old habits and somehow manage to put yourself right at the beginning, don’t worry.
Know that you have the experience to make the process even faster. Because make no mistake, managing to build and sustain motivation is a superpower. See you next time!
