A short guide to make your motivation and attitude to life successful and goal oriented, find and keep motivation!
Introduction
Motivation is integral part of your working and personal life. Without motivation you will never achieve the goals and targets you setup. Motivated people will reach their expectations and have a life with passion and interest.
Sometimes you’ll not feel motivated. Another part is to make sure you know how to manage disappointment, difficult situations and can keep in an area you don’t like the most but need to do. This will help you later to be happy in new situations as well.
In this short article I’ll share you theory and practice you need to develop your motivation and also use it with your team. I will also have a part which explains passion, keeping up and preparations for changes. Last part will give you examples from people who have succeeded. You don’t need to invent everything by yourself, take ideas from others.
Theoretical basis
There are many studies about motivation. Most of them are based on sociological and human behavior studies. Sociological studies concentrate in theories which compare individual’s situation into his motivation or passion to achieve more. Human behavior is more studying how a person can affect to desired outcomes.
In this short book you will get a snapshot to a few of the studies. You can practice or enhance your own motivation through the enhancement packages shared in the book or take later other trainings or courses I have created for motivation and self-development. Remember to put everything into practice, take a look outside your circles, see people around and observe how different backgrounds will affect to conclusions and survival in different situations.
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy theory is based on outcomes and how you can affect to desired outcome. High self-efficacy leads to successful outcomes, once people with low self-efficacy will give up easier and most likely have more failures.
If you have strong belief in ability to affect things, it will lead also to higher self-efficacy. You can practice your skills to get more self-confidence or you can have good experience in the past which could help you later to get a feeling you will reach good outcomes.
Experiences and past behaviors affect to future choices and possibilities to success. Many times people who succeeded once will also later have success. Environment, acceptance is also important in case you want to achieve great results.
In workplaces self-efficacy will affect in people’s success in tasks. If the level of self-efficacy is rather low, these people will need more guidance and help from others. People with high self-efficacy are most likely getting more demanding positions and reach successful outcomes.
Two-factor theory
Two-factor theory starts with feelings, attitudes and their connection. This will affect either positive or negative to outcomes. How we are able to do our jobs? What incentives we have to complete affects? By answering these questions you can evaluate your level of motivation.
As its name, there are two groups of factors that affect to level of motivation:
- Motivator factors like involvement in decision making, feedback, reputation and
- Hygiene factors like working conditions, security and salary.
Two-factor theory is extremely useful in enhancing working places and making changed which will keep people satisfied and also meet the requirements and get successful. There are many competitions and other development approaches organizations can use to make their people more likely to stay concentrated into best results.
Below picture gives you an example how to enhance your motivation by using techniques based on two-factor theory.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Maslow’s hierarchy is a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization and self-transcendence at the top. Each level will add more demanding requirements for motivation.
Basic needs like food, water and shelter are in bottom. Then there comes safety like financial independence and good health. Third level is connections to other people, giving and getting love. After these basic needs are fulfilled we may start thinking more, our status in society and so on. Highest level is self-actualization which means you start looking outside of basics, maybe want to have children or go more religious ways. Later Maslow added another dimension which starts after all basic needs are fulfilled. We may want to achieve something inside ourselves, spirituality or challenging ourselves by climbing a mountain.
The human brain is a complex system and has parallel processes running at the same time. Many different motivations from various levels of Maslow’s hierarchy can occur at the same time. Different levels of motivation could occur at any time in the human mind. Maslow focused on identifying the basic types of motivation in his theory.
You can also think about your team, how people can be more motivated or what you need to take into account in management.
Vroom’s expectancy theory
Vroom’s expectancy theory is based on three different factors:
- Expectancy — a person’s belief that more effort will result in success, if you work harder, it will result in better performance,
- Instrumentality — the person’s belief that there is a connection between activity and goal, if you perform well, you will get reward and
- Valence — the degree to which a person values the reward, the results of success.
Based on these factors you can count total motivation like in below picture.
Expectancy is more related to your attitude, while instrumentality is external encourages like there’s a price after completion (sports, business). For management it’s more difficult to affect how each person values the positive outcome, third factor valence.
Locke’s goal setting theory
Locke’s goal setting theory emphasizes that setting specific, challenging performance goals and the commitment to these goals are key determinants of motivation. It highly relies on expectation that all our actions are somehow related what we will reach at the end.
Goals describe a desired future, and these established goals can drive the behavior. They all need to be well defined and specific, difficult enough to encourage person for reaching the goal, winning himself. A good goal is also measurable, assigned to specific person, based on time and accepted by the one who will work on it.
Achieving the goals, the goal accomplishment further motivates individuals to perform. Also during the performance a good goal can set direction and give energizing factor to reach the goal. Feedback during the performance and at the end will help not only at the moment, but also in later tasks.
Find your way
This section will help you in finding ways to manage and come up with solutions. Sometimes you may feel that there’s no way out and it’s difficult to keep up positive. How you come up with solution will definitely motivate you not only now, but later as well.
You can follow simple practices to make your decisions, see outside of the box and find again motivation, passion and willingness to improve and go on.
Finding passion
A good way to find your passion is by asking questions:
- What things make you feel good,
- Which achievements have made you happy and
- Where you want to be in next 1, 3, 5 years.
You can also think about your status now, after one month and after three months. Just take some time to think about, make new plans and see current good, bad things. After you have mentally accepted your status and goals, you can feel more motivated, find passion.
To get better in doing, what you like think about these:
- Learn on your own,
- Take classes and
- Practice with others.
It’s important to not only study alone, but share your learning with others. You can have a learning partner, you can improve your skills in sports or any other area you feel happy. Inspiration can be anything: theater, movies, music, books, traveling, getting to know new people, and so on. Have something which is outside your normal life, learn new things or have a hobby to enhance other skills. Take a trip time to time, find new ways to enjoy.
Keeping up
Sometimes you feel that easiest solution is to quite or change to another place, direction, position. The way how you manage these feelings is a key in your success. You will never feel motivated if you stuck on negative things, not see outside.
The truth is that people who are able to keep in situations which are not most desirable, will also reach better their targets and success in life, in good or bad times. If you not like everything at your job, you can do not so desired tasks first, then you can have more time to better, more motivating tasks.
If you have difficulties in your current things, try to find something you like, what you enjoy and make it the most important thing in your current state. It can be a new area you’re studying or a new hobby, something which motivates you.
Preparing for changes
Any kind of change needs preparations. If you really make a decision to quit, move to another location, divorce, any else, it takes time to prepare. There are ways to make good plans or change immediately, but most likely it will take time also mentally to come up with a solution.
Steps for change making:
- First step is to mentally think yourself in new situation,
- Second step is to make the decision and
- Third step is to actually do the change, well prepared.
Once you go with these steps, it will be easier to make changes. Below picture gives you some inspiration and framework for preparing for changes.
Take ideas from others
You don’t need to invent or even learn everything by hardest possible ways. You can take ideas from people who have been successful, and also about how they avoided failures.
Influential thinkers can help you to find motivation. There are many people and examples to choose from. In this book I will give you some examples, but you can also think about people who you admired, your idols to find passion and motivation by their teaching.
Judy Dench
Judy Dench is most recently known from role as M in James Bond movies, but she has much, much longer history in theater especially in roles from Shakespeare.
I recently heard a podcast in which she shared her life philosophy. She says that
“Fear drives you to do your best and success”
In her thinking you can get motivated by thinking by you have to or need to do something, reach your limits
“Being alone I’m waiting for somebody to arrive”
This sounds a bit strange sometimes, but it’s good to remember you’re not alone in this world, there’s always someone to visit you or new people to get into your life
“Switching in and out of character”
For an actor it’s important to keep roles, and get variety by switching real me and the role you’re currently doing
“It’s the choice you have to make”
Many things affect to our life, choices or decisions you make will have impact in your life and remember not to regret too often your previous choices, find new and concentrate in the future
Barack Obama
Barack Obama is not only a former president. His influence is still high, he is very often asked for a speech in different situations or events. When Barack Obama had to make big decisions during his time as a president, he assembled a team to confer with him in the White House Situation Room. From there, he used a set of specific guidelines which helped him to make a decision.
You may not have staff to decide everything. You can still learn from Barack Obama, follow his guidelines in decision making:
- Listen to the people who will be most affected by the change,
- Realize there’s no right answer — it’s about weighing the odds,
- Seek out the naysayers (argue all sides),
- Get outside the ‘bubble’ of people who are ‘supposed’ to advise you,
- Test your B.S. detector and
- Insist that people deliver bad news quickly and are not punished for honest mistakes.
By also listening people who are not the most proficient in the new area, you can reach more. Remember to have some people who not always say yes, but ask you to reach higher expectations. Challenge yourself and understand everything is not visible in the beginning.
Michelle Simmons
One inspiring person I got to know during my trip to Australia was Michelle Simmons. She’s quantum physics professor who has been previously selected Australian of the year. Her thinking about ways to keep motivated, be interested about finding new ways and changing existing is amazing.
How she has found passion and interest, she described:
“Understand material in atom level”
You can also think in smaller pieces, take a look a bit more inside and find a good way to use your existing assets for motivation and passion
“Firm two techniques to work together in a way it hasn’t worked before”
This worked in Michelle’s research when they wanted to invent new things, you often stuck in one thing but you should actually try to combine and invent new
“Your interest, passion and finding a partner may help to find your way”
It’s not only funnier to work with another person, but this way you will also need to be accountable to another person
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is known mostly from Tesla cars. He has a vision is to get to space, efficiently and easier than before. This SpaceX Company isn’t yet on the way to stars, but we must agree that his passion in making electric cars drove him to success.
“It’s really helpful for figuring out the tricky things”, says Elon Musk.
He follows a structure to make big decisions. It has helped him also with his toughest decision to lend money from friends and make his company successful. Without this decision we probably wouldn’t have seen Tesla cars ever.
Elon Musk’s procedure to make decisions
- Ask a question,
- Gather as much evidence as possible about it,
- Develop axioms based on the evidence, and try to assign a probability of truth to each one,
- Draw a conclusion based on cogency in order to determine, are these axioms correct, are they relevant, do they necessarily lead to this conclusion, and with what probability,
- Attempt to disprove the conclusion, seek refutation from others to further help break your conclusion and
- If nobody can invalidate your conclusion, then you’re probably right, but you’re not certainly right.
It’s extremely important for you to be able to decide. Without correct decision making capabilities you’ll not reach the target and maybe success is less than it could be. Find your best skills, decide to success and keep on doing no matter is going to happen.
Ben Crothers
Another Australian I had please to listen is Ben Crothers. He’s design specialist who works for company named Atlassian. He is also a judge in annual award for Design of the year in Australia.
Crothers’ defined how to success or how to be good in what you do by
“Practitioner, fan, passion”
He says you must do things, like what you do and have some sort of passion in excelling your skills and success; you can take this to your guidelines
“Created through empathy and insight, wellbeing, prosperity, impact”
A good design isn’t just profitable, but it must do something extra; remember that inside you there will be moral, empathy and other parts which help you either you fail or success, don’t lie to yourself
“Delta between current and where we want to be”
If we want to find new great things, we always have to recognize what’s between old and new
Ben gave in an example of good design. He told about Rastrum 3D bio printer building 3D cell structures that will be used in treatment testing, therapies. This kind of design will benefit individual, society and the company which made it. It has a real need, offers a solution and will probably save also life in the future.
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lame sounds more like a politician than a religious leader, but he once was in both roles: political and religious leader for Tibetan people. He gave up role as political leader, and has ever since enjoyed good publicity and kept Tibetan issues on table.
In a speech posted on the internet and delivered in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamasala, the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said he would ask the Tibetan parliament in exile to make the necessary constitutional changes to relieve him of his “formal authority” as head of the Tibetan community outside China. This was his biggest decision.
What we can learn from him
- Making the right decision in a difficult situation is necessary to analyze it without emotion and fear, without prejudice, to consult with sincere friends, and then make a choice and do not regret it,
- Maximize mental abilities and analyze again and again,
- Don’t accept emotions affect: strong emotions impede our ability to think,
- Decision needs to look at things soberly,
- Consult with each other with a few friends, sincere friends and
- Make the decision and not to feel regret.
The best advice for me is the last one. If you ever decide anything, do not regret. This will keep negative energy on top and will never help you to see future. Instead recognize mistakes or wrong decisions and make needed corrections.
Conclusion
You can be motivated by nature or you can practice it. In thisarticle you got first steps to take and now it’s time to practice. Go back to different sections, write down your thoughts and learn how to deal with your feelings, expectations, passion and motivation.
Learn all the tools introduced in this publication by joining my course Find and keep motivation. It gives you all advice, more content and exclusive lectures to learn more.
If you consider how to decide better, you can join my Decision Making Masterclass to learn techniques and ways to make better, more efficient decisions.