Without the right motivation, your work is no fun. Those who enjoy what they do are easier to motivate and those who work motivated are almost automatically successful. Enjoyment of work, motivation, and success form a triad. Self-motivation is important. So here I have some ideas and strategies for self-motivation.
The word “motivation” comes from the Latin “movere” and means something like the energy that sets you in motion in the direction of your motif. Motivation, therefore, requires that you have goals. There are basically two types of motivation. While extrinsic motivation describes the external drive, which can be achieved, for example, by increasing the salary, intrinsic motivation represents the internal drive to want to implement your own ideas.
6 Effective Strategies For Self-Motivation
Only this inner motivation makes it possible to consistently pursue long-term goals. Thus, intrinsic motivation is an important personal characteristic that is necessary to climb the career ladder. Of course, employers also know this and are increasingly testing applicants’ self-motivation during the interview or by requesting a letter of motivation.
In order for your motivation to remain in the long term, you need to motivate yourself at regular intervals. You can use the following motivational strategies for this:
Formulate Your Goals
By formulating goals, you can get a good overview of your wishes. In order to be able to demonstrate alternative actions, it is important that you formulate your goals in writing, specifically and positively, and that they can also be achieved realistically and in the medium term. Goals must be well defined, Vague goals are not beneficial for you because they don’t show you a sufficient direction. Keep in mind, that you need goals to show you a path. Define precisely so you can get where you want to go.
Avoid Demotivation
Avoid demotivating factors such as fear of failure, uncertainty, and the exaggerated criticism of others, and think positively. There are various definitions of failure because every individual has a different belief system and values. Most of us are afraid of failure at some point in our lives. But fear prevents us from acting on our goals and to move forward! Sometimes, people in our society and unsupportive parents are a critical cause of demotivation. A person whose humiliated in childhood can carry those negative feelings into his adulthood. You have to eliminate these types of negative thoughts and feelings.
Use Your Strengths
If your work is ready for you, it will be easier for you and you will do it better. The success comes almost by itself. It is therefore important that you find out what you really enjoy. Once you have recognized your preferences, you should combine your tasks and skills well. Important factors for this are good self-assessment, personal influence, and good chances of success.
Take New Challenges
Find a challenge consciously for self-motivation, because only if something really demands you can grow and develop new skills. This positive development will also motivate you. The reason why this works is because when you overcome several challenges, you acknowledge that you had accomplishments. So when the new challenges come you remind yourself that you can do it as you did before. Just know that the pain of discipline is way better than the pain of failure. keep that in mind when the gets going tough. This is one of my personal favorite ways of motivation, In the list of strategies for self-motivation.
Motivation Through Role Models
Surrounding yourself with people who inspire you on the one hand and challenge you on the other positively motivates us enormously. As part of the Longevity Project, which has accompanied the lives of 1,000 people for 80 years, it found that the groups we connect with have an impact on who we become. People who, for example, wanted a healthier life and surrounded themselves with active people who have faced changes in their own lives were much more motivated. The principle is universal and can also be applied to professional life.
Charles Duhigg, for example, writes in his bestseller “The Power of Habit” that people who join a group where change seems possible increase their own potential for change. Carlin Flora explains in “Friendfluence” that researchers have shown that the professional career and related goals of our friends also influence our own endeavors. In short, one can conclude that those who have unmotivated people around them themselves become unmotivated people.
Motivation Through Reward
Another point that contributes to motivation through rewards. They feel good while punishments have the opposite effect on us. And that’s exactly why both forms of appreciation and disregard can help motivate or demotivate someone. David Niven, the successful author of the “The 100 Simple Secrets” series, writes in his book “The 100 Simple Secrets of Succesful People” that rewards can have an effect of up to 75 percent on our motivation and is based on research conducted in the US American colleague. He is a social scientist and has a doctorate.
“Rewards Have An Effect Of Up To 75 Percent On Our Motivation!”
The only problem is that if a reward is taken away from people, the motivation can drop rapidly into the basement. Therefore, the appreciative element should refer to a recognition that has its limits from the beginning and does not even suggest the appearance of permanence. So how can you reward yourself? By rewarding yourself, for example, with a visit to a restaurant or a short vacation at the end of a project. The prospect alone can help you to approach the tasks with a certain anticipation.
Recommended Readings: Typical Motivation Killers And How To Avoid Them
Incidentally, bosses should also keep this in mind when they are considering rewarding a team member for good work. Salary increases are great but are not necessarily used to increase motivation, but rather to bind employees to the company. Talents who earn well will at least not leave the company for financial reasons. However, that doesn’t have much to do with increasing motivation. Because the motivation for a salary increase will fade over time if it is fully embedded in everyday life. It would be better: a one-off additional day of vacation.
Try these strategies for self-motivation and see which ideas would work for you. It can be something that feels uncomfortable but you acknowledge the importance of it – which you know that is going to motivate you in some way.
