The Motivation Connection: Motivate and Inspire Yourself and Others

Motivation. How do you get it? Motivation comes from your own thoughts. What other people say or do will influence what you think. And what you say or do will influence what other people think.

by Mark Lamendola

Arnold Schwarzenegger has made many movies, and people have been fond of quoting his quips like, "I'll be back," or "Hasta la vista, baby." My favorite line of his is, "You can do it."

Then he turned bodybuilding from an unknown, disrespected sport to one that fueled a national fitness movement. And, despite his unusual physique and his strong accent, he became one of the top leading men in the American movie business. Yes, you can do it.

Ten Tips for Maintaining Motivation

1. Measure your progress.
2. Get enough rest.
3. Avoid sugar.
4. Imagine yourself at your goal.
5. Find a role model.
6. List the activity's benefits.
7. Keep a scrapbook.
8. Take small steps.
9. Find a partner.
10. Tell yourself quitting is not an option.

Some more thoughts on motivation

What motivates you? Try making a list of the top six things. Now, look at your list. Do these things come from other people? If so, you are externally motivated. This means your desire to perform well in your job, and in other areas, is at the mercy of what other people say to you. Not a good position to be in.

How can you change that so you are internally motivated?

You will have to change your basic assumptions and perspective. It is a process that will take time. Don't begin by tuning out what other people say to you, as much of that is probably encouraging and/or instructive. Begin by looking inside and slowly changing your perspective. Do it in one area at a time, and roll it out over time.

For example, do you get a good feeling when someone thanks you for getting something done on time or at least doesn't yell at you for being late? Then write this down as an internal motivator and make a point of scheduling your work so that you can get it done on time. Now you are internally motivated, measuring your success against a metric you set up and you control. You might find it a bit much to apply this across the board, so pick an area.

In this example, the area you pick might be the weekly report your boss wants. Instead of waiting until it's almost due, schedule some work on it every day. Then when the due date rolls around, it's almost done and you have no problem meeting the deadline. You tell yourself, "I get the weekly report done on time. Always." And you make it so.

Once you have that in place, you can look at another area. Maybe another job responsibility. Or maybe something in your personal life. Perhaps you just can't muster the energy to get your housework done. Here's where internal motivation makes a difference. You tell yourself that you will do a great job of tackling housework for one hour each Saturday. Not enough time to get it done, but that hour is your time to shine (and vacuum and whatever else is involved in your housework). You are internally motivated, because:

• You set the goal.
• You answer to yourself.
• It's reasonable and readily achievable.
• There's a time limit involved.

If you keep building your own program, here's what will happen:

• You'll have a regular supply of accomplishment, and it feels good to be successful often.
• You won't rely on others for your strokes, but you're likely to get more of those strokes because you are self-motivated.
• Other people will seldom be able to de-motivate you.
• If you have an idiot boss, your boss' opinion won't stop you from advancing your career because you will achieve regardless of your boss' opinion. That annual "performance review" will become irrelevant in the big picture of things.
• You'll be happier.