How to Find Your Self Motivation Triggers - One Size Does Not Fit All!

How to Find Your Self Motivation Triggers - One Size Does Not Fit All!


We get motivation advice all the time. Some like to give it for free, just because they like to show as if they know more than you do. But quite often, they do this to try and give you a sense of inferiority - as if they're superior to you. There are exceptions where some people do have a genuine interest to help folks, but these are few. Some people like to sell motivational stuff to make money and earn fame. While I do not favor, nor condone anyone or any method in particular, I will always say one thing - don't entirely depend on any one person or method to motivate you, and that also includes myself! Having said that, let us explore this a little deeper.

What is self motivation? In my opinion, self motivation is the act or process of emotionally persuading, manipulating, inducing, or incentivizing oneself to work towards a desired goal, by giving logical purpose and direction to your behavior, that continues to push you towards that goal, consciously, or sub-consciously.

Having said that, there are several ways that can make you and keep you motivated, until you reach your desired goal. Some of these are - using self hypnosis, reading motivational books, listening to motivational tapes, going to seminars, keeping in touch with the folks who have reached goals that you are striving to reach, putting pictures of the material goals at places where you see them everyday, etc. In fact, I know someone who gets a lot of motivation from anger - he frames receipts of payments he has made towards those who have duped him and keeps them on the wall facing him. It motivates him to reach income levels that surpass them and kind of "beat them", so to say!

Unfortunately, not all motivational methods actually motivate you, and most of them do not keep you in a "motivated state of mind", except a select few. Your job is to find these "select few methods / people" and then follow them religiously. How do you do this? The best way is to measure the results you achieve every time you use one of them. Stick to the ones that work and discard the ones that don't! Simple isn't it? It really is, if you do it right. The only requirement is that you take sufficient action in following them. Don't stop in the middle on the pretext that it doesn't work. Ask yourself - have you dedicated enough time and effort for it to work?

Another idea is to get someone involved in your act, like your spouse or a close friend. Tell them that this is what you intend to do and see how they can help you. While a helping hand certainly helps, more important is the commitment that you have indirectly made to ensure that it works. You shouldn't be afraid of being made fun of for failing; if the person you have involved is close enough to you.

Some more things you should keep in mind:

1. Maintain a positive attitude. Happiness should be at the top of your priority list, so do maintain a positive attitude. This will also affect the people and environment around you.

2. Take breaks regularly. Have you ever had an experience where, when you try to sort out something for hours and hours without any luck, the same thing is sorted out in minutes the next morning? When you're tired and your body and mind needs a break, your focus and analysis capacity is limited. Take a break when required. They didn't write "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" for nothing!

3. Don't take your troubles to bed and work. We all have problems and thinking about them will do no good. Concentrate on the solution, not on the problem. Don't think about it when you're working or going to bed. Neither will your income stand benefited, nor will your spouse!

4. Physical exercise. I won't stress this, you've probably had enough advice and I don't want to add more, just one little line: "Try it and measure the result - if it doesn't work, stop it". I'm confident you won't stop it! It has been scientifically proved that physical and mental health go hand in hand.