Bruno Mars is not alone when he wakes up singing,
Oh, today I don’t feel like doing anything. I just want to lay in my bed.
Let’s face it – some days it’s harder than others to drag ourselves out of bed & jumpstart our day. I call it winning “World War Me.” It’s the ongoing battle of the will within us to overcome that internal naysayer that says “just forget about it and stay in bed.”
What motivates you? What makes you wake up every day, rush to work irrespective of various problems, challenges, and setbacks?
It’s MOTIVTION!
Intrinsic Motivation
People are motivated either internally (Intrinsic Motivation) or externally (Extrinsic Motivation). People who are motivitated internally have internal desire which fuels their passion. For them, play is work and work is play. Ask someone who’s motivated internally “why do you do what you do,” they’ll tell you “it’s because I love what I do.”
Extrinsic Motivation
Just as some are motivated internally, some are motivated by external factors. Every four years the world watches the very best athletes compete for a gold medal while representing their respective countries. That’s why atheltes work hard and push their bodies to the limits hoping to win a World Series, NBA Champtionship, or the Super Bowl. The idea that he or she is the best in the world, and has the endorsements – and bling in the form of rings and medals to show for it – is the reward that comes at the end of a hard-won battle.
Are you looking to get (and stay) motivated? To get you on the right track, consider Lifehack’s following tips:
5 Ways To Get You Going
- Have a goal in mind. Whether you want to fit into the same size clothes as you did at your high school graduation or you want to be able to run with your kids, pets, or grandkids at the park, the goal is the thing to keep in mind to help secure positive results.
- See and track improvements. Getting on the scale every Monday to measure pounds lost or realizing that running a mile suddenly turned into two miles without much extra effort can provide the impetus needed for getting over hurdles of discouragement, sure to come no matter the goal.
- Take a break. If you’ve been working really intensely, you’ll be likely to be even more invested in the coming days if you take a day to recover from a hard workout or take an afternoon to replenish energy stores with a coffee break if you’ve been writing day and night trying to reach a big deadline.
- Focus on how seeing the goal to fruition will make you a better person. The knowledge that comes from making good food choices or learning which forms of exercise offer the best health benefits makes you a better person. Knowledge is money.
- Reward yourself. Many people find that by setting up rewards as part of a process – new earrings for 10 pounds lost or new bike gear after taking on that steep climb without stopping – will help make the road to success just that. A real success.
So, does it matter whether you’re more internally or externally motivated? Does being more motivated one way limit your success and results?
No, not at all.
What matters is for you to know whether you’re more motivated from within, or if you derive more of your motivation from external factors.
