Staying motivated about a goal or a task can be a struggle for some of us since negative thoughts and anxiety about the future can be very discouraging. Everyone experiences apprehension and doubt from time to time but one must keep in mind that in order to be successful at a task (or even in life) the drive to perform better and moving forward is a must. The motivation and determination is what distinguishes successful people from others.
Self-motivation is the inner drive that pushes and enables us to do things. Self-motivation is an important life skill and it is also a vital component of Emotional Intelligence.
Let’s first understand what motivation is. Motivation is what enables and pushes us to perform and achieve our goals and helps us feel fulfilled, contempt and improves the overall quality of our lives.
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According to Daniel Goleman, a renowned psychologist there are four elements that make up motivation:
Personal drive to achieve– the desire to improve certain standards;
Commitment- to personal or organisational goals;
Initiative– which he defined as ‘readiness to act on opportunities’
Optimism-the ability to keep going and pursue goals in the face of failures.
There are two types of motivation:
Intrinsic- this is the motivation because we want to do something.
Extrinsic- this is the motivation because we have to do something.
There are three main reason as to why we lose our motivation:
Lack of confidence
Lack of focus
Lack of direction
Having understood the basic concept of motivation, let’s turn our attention to the ways by which one can be and remain self-motivated:
- Work on your confidence.
Lack of confidence is one of the most common reasons why people lose their motivation. If someone doesn’t believe that they are capable of doing something, do you think they’ll be motivated to do it? No right? So it’s important to first work on your confidence. It’s possible that you might have worked on something and the results didn’t turn out the way you wanted to. You might have experienced failures and setbacks or got unfavourable results, tell yourself that it’s ok. It’s ok to not having achieved what you want to in the very first go. Learn whatever you can from that and work harder towards your goal and aim. Don’t lower your confidence and remember that if you can dream it, you can do it.
Indian Air Force Young Officers. - Remain focused and set a direction.
When you define a goal you automatically will come up with the set of actions that you need to take in order to achieve your goal. By developing and maintaining your focus I mean that you should be able to move from your desire of your goal towards logical and concrete steps to achieve it. Focus on the course of action that you need to take instead of thinking and fearing about the future and the outcomes. Being focussed will keep you motivated since you know what all you need to do. - Similarly, setting a direction also is important. Direction here means doing those activities that bring you closer towards your desired goal. For each goal there are certain activities that need to be done in order to achieve it. Create a plan and stick to it. The more you’ll remain on track, the more you’ll be motivated to reach the goal.
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Don’t ever be afraid to make mistakes. Instead, treat each mistake as a lesson. Also remember that quitting is never an option. Failures and setbacks shouldn’t keep you from realising your goals. Keep working hard, push your limits and empower yourself. You never know when you might succeed.
Stay motivated!
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