The Misunderstanding of Motivation

People often say they would do lots of things, if only they were motivated to do them!  This is the myth of motivation.  It comes from the fact that there are times when we feel motivated to do something, and this makes it easier to do whatever it is we are feeling motivated to do.  Motivation coming before the start can be a misunderstanding of what motivation is and where it comes from.  When motivation comes first, it can feel incredibly powerful to have such force pushing us onwards to task completion.  More often, however, Newton’s Third Law applies: an object in motion tends to stay in motion.  Motivation has a greater tendency to come from us already having started something and feeling the momentum of movement, we find ourselves able to stride forward in our actions.  Motivation is an aftereffect that helps us to continue; it is often absent at the start.

It is hard, to get started.  We must make a decision that we will begin, and we must push ourselves to engage in the action we have decided to begin.  It can make us feel strong to begin something.  We then feel stronger as we continue going.  This is where motivation begins.  So what do you do if you feel unmotivated?  Make the decision to start; and engage in the action of beginning.  Motivation will come.  Change will come from doing something differently.

Those times when motivation comes first; what are those?  Often these are the activities that we enjoy doing.  Motivated to read the next chapter in our book because we are enthralled with the story.  Motivated to get home to play video games or run around outside.  Motivated to leave work as quickly as we can because we are ready for the end of the day.  Often, when people are feeling unmotivated they are feeling this in relation to tasks or changes that they are not really wanting or are feeling anxious about.  Procrastination may set in as a means of coping.  In individuals experiencing symptoms of depression, it is not so much a loss of motivation as it is a loss of interest.  This loss of interest can become apathy- again, not so much a loss of motivation as it is a loss of caring.  As so many of our words do, motivation and apathy or loss of interest have become interchangeable.  It is then understandable to see where the myths of motivation have grown.

If you are feeling unmotivated, take a step back for a moment.  Take a self-inventory of what is going on.  Dig a little deeper and see what you can ascertain of what’s behind what you are identifying as lack of motivation.  Are you hungry?  Are you physically or emotionally tired?  Are you interested in what you are doing?  Is there something else that is making you feel worried or frustrated?  Finding out what is below can help you figure out what you need to do to get going.  With this additional self-awareness, you can then help yourself figure out how to get started.  Because once you get going, it’s much easier to keep going.