Lately I have been thinking a lot about motivation. What motivates us to do certain things? There are really only two types of motivation: internal and external.
Internal motivation happens when you motivate yourself to do something. That is the best way to make something happen. You will enjoy doing a task or a project if you and you alone decided that you want to.
External motivation is when someone is forcing you to do something. Some normal examples would be a job or a project for a client. You are externally motivated to act a certain way or do a specific task because your boss or your client threatens to fire you or not pay you. That is external motivation.
Both of these types of motivation work, however internal motivation is much better. If you learn to motivate yourself, you will be much happier and get more accomplished in your life. The problem is, many people are not that motivated, and they do not know what to change.
Recently I have read many examples of the lack of motivation in people. First of all is a discussion thread on Reddit.com. The author describes how he is a naturally smart person (The irony here is that just about everyone thinks they are smart, but it just isn’t true. Otherwise there would be no such thing as being average.) But throughout life he has had no motivation to do anything with his life.
There have been over 1400 comments on this thread. Clearly the student’s question resonated with many other people. So if you feel that you struggle with being motivated, do not despair. You are not alone!
The second example I read recently was from Jason Calacanis who is a well known technology entrepreneur and blogger. Recently he wrote an article about his thoughts on lowering unemployment in the United States. Without getting into all the details, he essentially proposes retraining the unemployed with high tech skills, e.g. programming and/or graphic design.
But he acknowledges that not everyone will be able to be retrained. In that regard, he says this:
“The harsh reality is that some folks are, well, not driven, smart or focused enough to take on retraining.” – Jason Calacanis
He does not actually use the word “motivation.” But to me being driven and focused are the same as being motivated.
Last but not least is an article I stumbled across on Philip Greenspun’s website. He is also a technology entrepreneur who retired at the old age of 37. The article discusses early retirement and the need to have a plan for what you will do with your time if you are retired.
But interestingly enough he first describes the typical office worker who works a typical 40 to 50 hours per week. They claim that the only thing in their way of accomplishing all their goals is their job. Then he says this:
“Suppose that the guy cashes in his investments and does retire. What do we find? He is waking up at 9:30 am, surfing the Web, sorting out the cable TV bill, watching DVDs, talking about going to the gym, eating Doritos, and maybe accomplishing one of his stated goals.”
Retirement forces you to stop thinking that it is your job that holds you back. For most people the depressing truth is that they aren’t that organized, disciplined, or motivated.”
– Philip Greenspun
So the question is why are some people not motivated?
I believe the number one factor is that they have no internal drive. They do not see the benefit of taking action. It is easier to accept the status-quo and not change. After all, change is scary. And people only change in three ways: slowly, rarely and never. Despite the fact that many people would like their circumstances to change for the better, they are not willing to improve themselves in order to make that change.
The good news is that you can learn to have drive and develop it throughout your life. This in turn will you create the motivation you need to accomplish many things in your life. The first step is to acknowledge that it is ultimately up to you. Take responsibility for your actions and your life. Set goals for yourself, both in your career and personal life. Make achieving those goals your highest priority.
The second step to motivating yourself is to be enthusiastic. Just as you can create desire in yourself, you can also learn to be enthusiastic. Being enthusiastic can be described as an extreme interest in a subject. Being curious about life will help you to be enthusiastic about everything you do. (On a side note, I think that motivation and curiosity have a very deep relationship with each other. If you are not a naturally curious person, you are probably not very motivated either). The great thing about enthusiasm is that it does not cost anything!
If you develop your drive, a “fire in your belly,” set goals for yourself, and learn to be enthusiastic, there is no telling what you can accomplish in your life.
Source:
How Motivated Are You?