Not Feeling Motivated Enough? I’ve Found The Piece That’s Missing
We all feel the highs and lows of motivation.
We want to stay in a constant state of motivation but at times it’s as if someone has doused the fire within with chilly water.
It’s at that time that we look to our idols for more help.
The wells dried up.
And we are often left wondering WHY?
Daniel Pink answers this in his book ‘Drive- The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.’
It hit me quickly why motivation waxes and wanes and what I should really do about it.
Motivation 1.0
Most of us have studied Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs.
We first need to satiate our basic needs, food, shelter, and clothing.
Once we have this in control we are motivated to take care of our psychological needs- safety, security.
We then move up to our need to belong- community and intimate relationships.
We start working on finding our sense of self.
Followed by self-fulfillment activities where we try to achieve our greatest creative capabilities.
Maslow believed everyone should be motivated to find their greatest potential making self-fulfilling activities the peak of the pyramid.
Motivation 2.0
The Carrot and Stick Approach
Individuals are motivated by the means of a carrot (take for instance in this case salary) and prodded by a stick (take corporate regulations) incase demands are not met.
Do you want to go on a life-long vacation?
And eat the best food?
And this.
Are you sure?
A vacation where there's no need to come back to your routine life.
If your answer to this is a big yes, sadly you're motivated by the carrot and stick approach used by corporations world over.
You're tied to your routine job so tightly that you have lost your sense of self.
Your passion, creativity, love for life has dwindled.
Hence we come to what is needed to keep sustained motivation.
Motivation 3.0
This is the upgrade that we desperately need.
When the carrot is dangling but it’s not enough.
That burning desire to create something more meaningful, something bigger than yourself in your life.
Don’t get me wrong.
It’s not like you cannot do your best work in a corporation. Sure you can.
But then why are you struggling to get up from your bed in the morning?
Why are you dreading Mondays and loving Fridays?
Why are you saying YES to vacationing for a lifetime?
These are questions you’ve got to ACT on.
When you find incredible flow in your work, you’ll be able to answer these questions.
When a vacation is just to destress and nothing else, the idea of more food, new places won’t excite you as much as your want to produce more quality work.
Start small. And try.
Keep pursuing things that matter to you. You will be self-motivated and that's the missing piece.
Put in the hours.
Reload.
Put in the hours.
Sorry, there isn’t any other mantra.
So stop waiting for magic to happen.
Don’t wait for that surge of motivation. It’s there within you. Just act on it like your life depends on it.
Happy Reading!
