Motivation Matters: How to Unveil Your Inner Drive for Greater Success

Motivation is the key to accomplishing your personal and professional goals. 

What no one tells you is – whether you started working and do not want to continue or you have no drive to do a simple task like cleaning your room, you need the motivation to get ahead. 

Having no motivation to work for things you want can stop you from living the life you want. When you lack the motivation, it’s time to plan and implement steps to motivate yourself to reach your dreams. 

This article gives you an in-depth knowledge of motivation, why you need them, and ways to stay motivated in life and at work.

Table of Contents

1. What is motivation?
2. Why do you need motivation in the workplace?
3. Why do you lack motivation in the first place?
4. Common reasons for workplace demotivation
5. What do you want to achieve by working on the task or goal at hand?
6. Types of Motivation
7. What can you do to boost your motivation at work?

Before we dive into the details, you should know that having no motivation and lazing around are two different things. Lazing around is fine. 

Why? 

If you’re a productive person in general, lazing around is a sign that your body or/and mind need idle time to be productive once again. 

It can also be a way to manage our stress. So next time you’re lazing around between hustling, don’t be guilty about it. 

Coming to our topic…

What is motivation?

In simple terms, motivation is the need, desire, wish, or a similar force that helps you stick to your goals, and complete the tasks you want. You can consider motivation as an encouragement to do something you want. Sometimes, your basic motivation has to be met for you to get started working towards your goals. 

Purpose drives passion.

– Unknown

What most of us forget is aligning our purpose and passion with our motivation to pursue our dreams. The purpose is something that guides your passion. If you are passionate about something, I’m sure you will find ways to stay motivated. 

Why do you need motivation?

The importance of motivation in our life is vital. Staying motivated will allow you to:

• Manage your time effectively
• Set achievable goals
• Work on your dreams
• Build the skills you want
• Improve your career, relationships, physical, and mental health

Of course, the benefits are limitless. In short, you can become the best version of yourself that you ever wanted. You may find it hard to stick to your tasks initially. But when you make it through the initial period, you’re more likely to stay motivated toward the goals.

Why do you lack motivation in the first place?

Sometimes, we know our goals, and we also have a plan to achieve them, but still, we struggle to work on them. In this case, we need to develop a plan to help us stay motivated to get going. 

Before we have the plan, we need to address the important part – Why am I not motivated to work?

Consider the reasons why you are not motivated to work. 

Sometimes, our problem is not having the motivation to work. At other times, having no motivation is part of a bigger existing problem. 

Let’s take a few scenarios here. 

For example, let’s say you are a perfectionist (like I was), chances are high that you are not motivated to work because of fear of failure. You may fear completing the task flawlessly, which demotivates you to start the work in the first place. Until you address the need to be perfect, you won’t get motivated to work. This is what worked for me. I let go of the need to be perfect (mostly). 

Another case is your lack of motivation due to burnout, or underlying depression.

One more situation where you lack motivation could be due to procrastination. The more you procrastinate on a task, the less motivated you will be. Improving your motivation in the direction that works for you is the key to staying motivated and succeeding. 

Don’t get worried to stay motivated and work right away. Take time to decide your passion. I suggest you take a few minutes and consider the reasons for not doing the work and the reasons why you want a specific goal or dream to be achieved. 

Common reasons for demotivation

Here are the most common reasons why people lack motivation. 

Avoiding discomfort

You may be avoiding discomfort for two possible reasons. One is that the task is mundane and you don’t want to face the discomfort of being bored while working on it. 

Another reason is that you’re not up for a challenge that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Going out of your comfort zone can be good or bad. But still, you are avoiding that discomfort of facing something challenging. 

Your desire to avoid discomfort is causing you to lose motivation. It’s as simple as that. 

Lack of clarity

This is the second common reason for the lack of motivation. Either you don’t know what you want or your path is unclear. 

What do you want to achieve by working on the task or goal at hand?

You can’t achieve your dream if you can’t see it clearly in the first place. Isn’t it? 

It’s tough to achieve or stay motivated toward a goal when you are not clear about what you want.

If this is the case, focus on writing your goals and steps to achieve them, then motivation comes naturally. Actually, writing out your goals is one step towards achieving the goal. So you should try that. 

Fixed mindset

There are two types of mindsets: Fixed and growth mindsets. 

Most of us are fixed in that we don’t have the potential to excel in a task or a habit. A few of us wouldn’t even dare to have a dream in the first place, thinking that we can’t achieve our goals. 

The reasons can be many. You may not believe that you are capable of reaching the goal, or you are impatient and you want to quit the idea altogether. 

For instance, you need someone’s help to complete a task, but the pride to ask for help may get in the way. You can lose motivation to complete the task since you can’t complete it on your own. 

When you are so fixed that you can’t do something, you will struggle to take even the first step. 

To overcome this, you need to inculcate a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset believe they can learn and acquire new skills and grow their understanding. They may or may not have the intelligence to get things done.

Experiences are new opportunities for them. Even when the feedback is negative, they welcome them. Having a growth mindset motivates you because you believe that you can learn and achieve the things you want. 

The successful warrior is the average man with a laser-like focus. – Bruce Lee.

It is not a matter of intelligence, it’s a matter of focus. Intelligence may help you understand or get the things you want easily. But the path to achieving that is the focus, laser-like focus. 

To achieve the goal of losing weight, are you focused enough to exercise every day?

Lack of commitment toward your goal

Sometimes, we declare our goals purely out of pressure. External forces like parents, society, or your manager could be the reasons. 

However, if your heart really isn’t in the goal you set to achieve, you are unlikely to take action towards it. 

It simply means you are not committed to the goal at hand. 

You can go about it in two ways. One is that you should pick a goal that aligns with your passion. Without a positive attitude towards the goal, you can’t stay motivated. 

When your passion and motivation work together, tremendous energy and motivation flow into the goal you set. 

It’s okay if you don’t find your passion right away. Take your time to understand where your passion lies. Envision yourself where you want to be. The positive thoughts you get affect your actions, which in turn, will make you define and reach your goals. 

Pro tip: Share your goals with your family, friends, or close ones. This will help you stay accountable. 

Underlying mental health issues

When you’re struggling to complete even the small things for a prolonged time it could be a sign of some underlying mental health issues. It can be as small as getting out of bed, brushing your teeth, etc. 

When things like depression and anxiety are blocking your mind, you will struggle to find energy and joy in the things you do. We go to ‘survival mode’ and push things away. This is the case when our anxiety or depression has control over our thoughts. It is common, and nothing is wrong with that. 

Talk to someone who has been there or join a community that promotes positive thoughts. Along with that, you should watch your habits or circumstances that are triggering anxiety or depression. Take baby steps, fix a time, and work towards your goals for at least five minutes a day. It may be insufficient but the best part is it is doable and you may even look forward to it. 

Types of Motivation That You Should Know About

One’s motivation can be intrinsic or extrinsic or both.

Intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation comes from within. When people are compelled to do things out of pleasure, personal gratification, etc., it is intrinsic motivation. 

Extrinsic motivation

It occurs when a person is motivated by external factors to accomplish the tasks. It can be rewards, trophies, money, etc. 

Why are they important?

At a basic level, these motivation factors are power, change, achievement, socialization, and more, which are the ones that influence our behavior. So understanding your motivation factors can help you:

• Improve the efficiency of working towards your goals
• Take control over your life
• Avoid unhealthy behavior like addiction or unhealthy risk-taking attitude and can promote healthy well-being 
• Improve your overall happiness 

How to boost your motivation while you’re working

As I said earlier, we get motivated in different ways. Here are a few ways you can stay motivated while working towards your goals.

Start small

Having big dreams is great! But you need to start small. Create a plan and set small and measurable goals and milestones. When you reach the small milestones you set, you get motivated further to proceed toward your goals. 

Sometimes, dreams and goals are different. Your dream can be to become a great author. However, your goal would be to get your first book published. In such cases, creating a deadline to publish the book, and working backward will make the perfect sense. Set monthly and weekly writing goals. 

Your goal is to publish a book by the end of the year. So make sure you create weekly and monthly goals. Build an environment that reminds you to write. It can be your favorite quote or an image of your favorite author. 

Another essential thing to do is set small and achievable milestones. 

The next important point is to develop a routine, more about that later.

Develop habits

Motivation is like a muscle, so you need to strengthen it with a regular routine. When you achieve smaller milestones you set, it means the payoff comes quickly. This motivates you further. 

Get an accountability buddy

You’ve probably heard of accountability buddies. People who help each other to build habits, and achieve goals. Few people try to stay accountable to themselves by creating reminders, wearing a Fitbit, or tracking a habit through a journal entry. 

On the other hand, accountability works well when it comes from outside. Create a plan, and choose a friend who probably shares similar goals. You can set up a meeting with each other once or twice a week or a daily check-in to discuss how you’re doing on your diet, goals, or habits. 

People are usually hard on themselves. Having an accountability partner can be a great support system. You can share your problems, solutions, and wins with them. It’s fun.

Gratitude

I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to inculcate gratitude in your life. Create a ritual – daily, weekly, or monthly. Take a step back and appreciate the things in your life. When you start appreciating, it gets easier to stay motivated.

Be kind to yourself

People are usually hard on themselves. When you procrastinate or make a small mistake, you may be discouraged and start having negative self-talk. Words are powerful. Negative self-talk has even more impact. It decreases your motivation levels and increases stress, fear, and anxiety. 

Recognize your power to change your thoughts. You deserve your own kindness no matter what. To err is human, we are humans. So gently come back to work on your goals. 

Build habits not motivation

Often, motivation is a result of an action not a cause of it. Instead of consuming a motivational video or reading a book, getting started with small actions is a powerful way to get inspiration. 

One of the biggest differences between successful people and common people is successful people fix a time and work for their goals, and common people wait for motivation to come. 

Set time for these small actions and create a habit. Most of the friction happens only at the beginning of the task. Once you built a new habit or new behavior, you wouldn’t need motivation much. 

Here’s how you can build a new habit to achieve your goal.

• Set reminder: It can be your workout clothes, shoes, a quote from a favorite author, etc. It’s your cue to start the task.
• Routine: The actual task.
• Reward: By doing the task over a certain time, you accomplish a milestone or your goal. Reward yourself or the goal could be your reward in this case. 

How to motivate employees as a leader

Staying motivated at work is one challenge, motivating your peers or employees is another. When you’re an entrepreneur or a leader at work, it’s equally important to inspire and keep your employees motivated. 

Here are our 5 tips to motivate your team at the workplace

Set clear goals and expectations

Clearly define the team’s goals, objectives, and performance expectations. When you give them clear directions and objectives, they can work with better motivation. Ensure that each team member understands their role in achieving these goals and how their work contributes to the overall success of the team and the organization.

Foster open communication

Encourage open and transparent communication within the team. Create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, concerns, and feedback. Actively listen to their input and involve them in decision-making processes whenever possible. This helps them feel valued and engaged in their work.

Provide growth opportunities

Set a growth-oriented environment where employees can see a clear path for their advancement. Offer opportunities for career advancement, such as promotions, lateral moves, or expanded responsibilities. Support their aspirations and help them identify areas for development and growth within the organization.

Employees who are career-oriented would definitely feel motivated by this step. 

Give/get regular feedback and recognition

Offer regular feedback to your team members, highlighting their strengths and areas for improvement. Recognize and appreciate their efforts and achievements publicly, acknowledging their contributions. You can recognize their work by praising them verbally, writing commendations, or giving small rewards.

Encourage collaboration and teamwork

Promote a collaborative work environment where team members can support and learn from one another. Encourage cross-functional collaboration and facilitate teamwork through team-building activities, joint projects, or brainstorming sessions. These activities can build trust, and foster a sense of camaraderie and collective achievement among employees.

To sum it up!

Life is a delicate balance between getting what we want and giving in to the distractions. You don’t want to work? That’s okay. It’s just another moment of your life. Take your time and get back on pace. I hope the tips in this article will help you find your passion, and discover a way to work towards it.