Motivation - How do you get it?
What is motivation?
You have an exam coming up in two weeks. You are tired and weak, and you pray to the sky for some strength, some energy to study and do a good job. You don't want to fail your parents or your family, many who have given you money to pay for your enrollment in this institution. You know they toil day after day just to survive, that they live in a dangerous country whose laws are not upheld. You have been given an opportunity... and yet, you are still tired and weak. Your body still aches, your eyes are still heavy. None of those things are strong enough to awaken you, to give you second strengths. You wonder where your motivation has gone to.
In the above example, it is illustrated that we often think of motivation as an inner characteristic, something that you either have or you don't. We define motivation as something that causes our action, and without it we cannot act.
I like to define motivation as the result of our actions. It is not motivation that causes our actions, it is our actions that cause our motivation. The more we act, the more motivated we become and the less we act, the less motivated we become. If you find a reason to act, then act! Olympic athletes don't wait around or look for a reason to be motivated, they look for a reason to act! Their motivation comes after their actions, their training. They want to be the best, and that is enough to let them act.
In the example above, the person was trying to find a reason to be motivated - his family, his grades, his fortunes. What he should have been doing was trying to find a reason to act!
Learning to Eat Vegetables
Wait, so how do we get it?
It's quite simple, really - you find something that you're looking for, and you go after it. If it's good grades, you study. If it's money, you get a job.
You might be thinking "but I don't feel like studying - that's why I need the motivation!". It's true, you might not be willing to study at first, you might not be willing to work for money, you might not be willing to exercise to be healthy. Those are just the sacrifices involved in the choice.
Here's the thing: once you start acting, even if you don't want to at first, it'll get easier. Over time, you'll find that you're getting better at it, it's becoming easier to do, and maybe that you're even enjoying it now! You might find this silly, but that's how I learned to eat my vegetables.
Now I haven't provided you with any facts or proofs that my "action" theory on motivation works. And I don't even know if it will work. But this is my first Hub. Though this may not be a good Hub or supported by Amazon books or eBay products, it's a start. But I'm feeling really good about this start, and I hope this will carry on to me becoming a better writer and to creating better Hubs.
Now go get started! The motivation will follow - trust me.
"It's better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing perfectly" - Robert H. Schuller.
