Motivation, a mythical energy source that allows us to create, study, and finish projects. Here’s various ways to keep yourself motivated and prepared for future hardships. Use these techniques to stay motivated.
Internal vs External Mindset
Various studies show the motivation is higher when you have an Internal mindset, or a mindset where you believe you can change the outcome. An example of this would be “I got an A on my test because of my hard work.“ This is in contrast to an External Mindset as it focuses on external factors citing your success to natural gifts or talents.
As with everything else mindset is a habit and to begin changing your mindset to an internal mindset. You can begin by just repeating a positive phrase either in your head or allowed at least 10 times a day. These phrases can vary from “I can make a change” to “Iterate, Iterate, Iterate” as long as they are something you can control and are positive.
Motivation Mindset
There are thousands of thoughts that go through your head every day so to truly change your mindset you need to start thinking positively instead of thinking negatively. Don’t focus on stopping the negative thoughts but focus on thinking positively instead. You can replace these bad thoughts by writing down your negative thoughts and at the end of the day write 5 ways that these thoughts aren’t true. Another method would be to change your self identity. For instance, Instead of “I need to quit smoking” which you internalize as “I’m a smoker”. You would replace the thought process with “I don’t smoke” which internalizes that you are not a smoker.
Quantity over Quality this phrase usually states that quality is what you should focus on but for many this phrase holds them back from achieving the quality they want to achieve. This mindset worries so much about everything being perfect that If one thing isn’t up to standard your odds of quitting increase dramatically. While it would not be perfect you can complete projects and continue to iterate and improve on the next project. Which will lead you to creating better products or learning more in the long term. This is proven through a study that had students create pottery for a show. One group’s goal was to create one perfect pot while the other group’s goal to make as many pots as possible. The audience like the pots made by the quantity students over the singular pot students.
70% is passing
Another way to address this mindset is to focus on reaching 70% of your intended goal as a success. So instead of being discouraged that you didn’t make 7 pots a week. You can be content that you made 4 pots this week instead. Staying motivated, as you’ve still progressed at your larger goal: improving at pottery. In addition to this it allows you to start the pots themselves as the standard you hold yourself to is lower and there’s less pressure on you to create a masterpiece with each pot. Thereby lowering the chance of procrastination.
Let yourself Succeed
Another reason for lack of motivation is the fear of success. In Jen Sincero’s book You are a badass at making money. She associated wealth with being gross, overrated and harmful. She held the mindset that you have to pick between enjoying life or being rich. That she had to decide whether to be happy and enjoy time with family or be wealthy. She later realized that these two states are not exclusive to one another. She could be rich and still spend time with her family and enjoy life. That this association with money was not true. That she could succeed and live a fulfilling life as well. She realized that her desire for wealth was not greed but was a desire to live a full life.
Similarly we must address any negative associations we have that may impact our drive for success. For example, if we associate wealth with greed we can donate a portion of profits to charity. This recontextualizes our association from greed to one of charity. Thereby allowing ourselves to make money and thrive in what we are doing.
Long Term Motivation
When trying to stay motivated for the long term you need to have a dream. A dream that has actionable steps that allow you to feel like your actions have a purpose. These types of stories typically follow a if this then that format. For example, If I study hard and get good grades then I will be able to get a good paying job. This story keeps you motivated and with a direct goal in mind. Which is to get good grades which leads you to your dream of getting a good paying job. The only requirements for preparing the story would be believability and that positivity.
Next would be setting appropriate metrics for success. An example of this would be measuring words written instead of readers for a book. As you can control how many words you’ve written in a short period of time. However you cannot control your audience growth within a short period of time. Audience growth is a delayed response to your content. Similarly to weight loss, if you measure weight lost per week. you would see insignificant changes. Which typically discourages you despite constantly working towards your goal. A better metric to measure is the amount of exercise. As you can see an increase of pullups or weight within each session. Be aware that most long term goals require patience and to wait for the delayed response to your actions. In order to avoid this pitfall you need to set your goals appropriately. Here is a Goal Setting Guide. to stay motivated.