In today’s fast-paced and competitive world, finding the motivation to work on your career is crucial for long-term success and personal fulfillment. However, staying motivated can sometimes be a challenge, especially when faced with setbacks or a lack of direction. Fortunately, there are strategies you can employ to reignite your passion and drive. This article will guide you through five powerful ways to find motivation and unlock your full potential in the pursuit of a thriving career.
Clarify Your Vision
To find motivation in your career, it’s essential to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve. Take the time to reflect on your goals, both short-term and long-term. What do you envision yourself accomplishing? By painting a vivid picture of your desired future, you create a compelling reason to work diligently towards your objectives. Write down your aspirations and refer to them regularly as a reminder of the bigger picture, fueling your motivation and helping you stay focused.
Set Meaningful Milestones
While having a long-term vision is important, breaking it down into smaller, achievable milestones is equally crucial. Set specific, measurable, and time-bound goals that align with your career trajectory. These milestones provide a sense of progress and accomplishment along the way, reinforcing your motivation. Celebrate each milestone you reach, as these victories will boost your confidence and drive to continue moving forward.
Surround Yourself with Inspiration
Your environment plays a significant role in shaping your motivation. Surround yourself with individuals who inspire and uplift you. Seek out mentors, join professional communities, and engage in networking events where you can connect with like-minded individuals who are passionate about their careers. By surrounding yourself with motivated individuals, you will gain fresh perspectives, receive valuable advice, and feed off their positive energy.
Embrace Continuous Learning
One of the most effective ways to find motivation is to adopt a growth mindset and embrace lifelong learning. Invest in expanding your knowledge and skills by attending workshops, taking courses, or pursuing additional certifications relevant to your field. The process of learning new things not only enhances your expertise but also instills a sense of progress and curiosity that fuels motivation. Continually challenging yourself and acquiring new knowledge keeps your mind engaged and ensures that you remain at the forefront of your industry.
Cultivate Self-Care Practices
Finding motivation is closely linked to taking care of your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Make self-care a priority by incorporating activities that rejuvenate and energize you into your routine. Engage in regular exercise, practice mindfulness or meditation, maintain a healthy diet, and allocate time for hobbies or activities that bring you joy. When you take care of yourself holistically, you cultivate a strong foundation for motivation, resilience, and sustained career growth.
Reaching for the Stars: Embracing Ambition in Your Career Journey
Aiming high is a crucial aspect of finding motivation in your career journey. Dare to dream big and set ambitious goals that push your limits. Whether you aspire to climb the corporate ladder, start your own business, or secure high paying restaurant jobs in renowned establishments, having lofty aspirations ignites a fire within you. Embracing ambition not only fuels your motivation but also propels you to take calculated risks, seek out new opportunities, and continuously strive for excellence. By aiming high, you create a compelling vision of success that inspires you to work diligently, overcome obstacles, and ultimately achieve the extraordinary in your career.
Motivation is the driving force behind meaningful and fulfilling careers. By clarifying your vision, setting meaningful milestones, surrounding yourself with inspiration, embracing continuous learning, and prioritizing self-care, you can unlock your inner drive and find the motivation to excel in your career. Remember, motivation is not a constant state but a skill that requires nurturing and maintenance. Stay focused, be persistent, and never underestimate the power of your own determination in achieving professional success and personal fulfillment.
Let’s take a fun journey into the world of humor and discover how it keeps our minds healthy! Did you know that laughter isn’t just about having fun? It’s like a hidden superpower for your brain.
We’ll explore how smiling and laughing can boost your inner strength, making you feel happier and less stressed.
It’s more than just jokes—laughter is a clever tool our brain uses to keep us feeling good. So, are you ready to laugh your way to a brighter, healthier you?
Let’s dive into this laughter adventure together!
Understanding Humor and Mental Health
Understanding the interplay between humor and mental health can shed light on how laughter serves as a tool for not only social bonding but also psychological resilience.
The Psychology of Humor
Humor is a fascinating cognitive function, sparking high levels of brain activity. It’s not just about telling jokes; humor plays a key role in emotional regulation and how we connect socially. In fact, studies, including a review by the American Physiological Society, show that humor acts as a powerful bridge, enhancing communication and bonding between people. When you laugh, your brain releases a mix of feel-good hormones like dopamine, which stimulates the brain’s reward pathways. Research also shows that regular laughter can reduce stress by up to 39%, proving it’s a natural mood booster!
Benefits of Laughter on Well-Being
Laughter sets off a chain of physiological reactions that improve your mood and well-being. Here’s how laughter helps:
Reduces stress: Endorphins released during a good laugh help lower stress levels. In fact, studies show laughter can reduce stress hormones like cortisol by up to 70%.
Enhances immune function: Research, including studies found on ResearchGate, suggests regular laughter may boost immune response, helping the body fight off illness more effectively.
Improves happiness: Laughter and humor therapy have been shown to enhance optimism and life satisfaction. According to Positive Psychology, humor significantly boosts overall well-being, increasing happiness by up to 30%.
Boosts social connections: Laughter fosters stronger social bonds. Studies suggest people who share a laugh feel more connected and build trust faster in relationships.
Improves pain tolerance: Laughter increases the release of endorphins, which act as natural painkillers, raising pain tolerance and reducing discomfort by up to 10%.
Promotes heart health: Regular laughter can improve blood flow by up to 22%, reducing the risk of heart disease and promoting cardiovascular health.
By understanding and harnessing the power of humor, you unlock its powerful ability to build resilience, improve relationships, and boost both mental and physical health.
Incorporating Humor in Therapeutic Settings
Humor in therapy can serve as a bridge, connecting you to new perspectives of healing. It’s a tool that can lighten moods and forge bonds in clinical environments.
Humor-Based Therapy Techniques
When you’re facing a challenging time, the notion of humor might seem distant. However, therapeutic humor is a viable intervention designed to promote health and wellness. Therapeutic techniques often involve stimulating playful discovery and encouraging the expression or appreciation of life’s incongruities.
Surprise and Confusion: Some techniques encourage looking at a problem through a humorous lens, creating surprise or confusion. This can prompt you to seek alternative frameworks for problem-solving.
Shared Laughter: Group sessions might incorporate shared laughter exercises designed to build rapport and encourage social interaction.
Laughter Yoga: This combines unconditional laughter with yogic breathing (Pranayama), aiming to tap into the psychological benefits of laughing.
Funny Dry Humor Jokes: Integrating a specific style of humor, such as funny dry humor jokes, can be particularly effective in therapy. This type of humor, characterized by a subtle, often understated delivery, can bring a light-hearted touch to therapy sessions. It works well in reducing the seriousness of a situation, making it easier to discuss difficult topics. The use of such humor can create a relaxed atmosphere, encouraging clients to engage more openly and comfortably in therapeutic processes.
Integrating humor into therapy isn’t about telling jokes; it’s about fostering an environment that allows for light-heartedness amidst the seriousness of mental health treatment. Interventions can be custom-tailored to fit your unique needs and therapy goals.
Case Studies of Humor in Therapy
Actual case studies reveal how incorporating humor can lead to meaningful improvements in mental health outcomes.
Reducing Anxiety: Studies have shown that humor can help reduce anxiety by breaking the cycle of negative thoughts and replacing them with a lighter outlook.
Enhancing Group Therapy Dynamics: In group settings, humor helps create a sense of unity and can improve social support, making the therapeutic process more effective.
By examining real-world applications, it is evident that humor can have a place in the delicate framework of therapy. It’s not a panacea, but it’s another tool you can use to navigate the complexities of mental health.
Motivational Theories Behind Humor
Understanding why humor works as a motivational tool can help you harness its power more effectively. Below, explore how intrinsic and extrinsic motivations relate to humor, and consider humor’s role in social bonding and as a coping mechanism.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation is your internal drive to do something for its inherent satisfaction. When you laugh at a joke, you’re experiencing an intrinsic reward. Humor can spark your interest, making learning and engagement feel less like work and more like play.
Contrastingly, extrinsic motivation involves seeking external rewards. If humor is employed to achieve high marks or praise, for instance, it’s tapping into extrinsic motivators. However, intrinsic motivation linked to humor often leads to more profound and lasting engagement.
Humor as Social Bonding and Coping Mechanism
Social Bonding: Laughter isn’t just a response to humor; it’s a social signal. By sharing a joke, you’re building a bridge to others, fostering trust and cooperation. Humor can act as a glue in social settings, helping you connect and stay motivated through shared experiences.
Coping Mechanism: Facing adversity, humor becomes a shield. As you laugh in the face of challenges, tension dissipates. Humor has the uncanny ability to provide relief of tension, like steam escaping, making problems feel lighter and more manageable.
Practical Applications of Humor
Humor serves as a powerful tool in managing mental well-being, offering respite in personal spheres and fostering an inclusive atmosphere at the workplace.
Daily Practices for Individuals
Incorporate humor into your morning routine. Start your day with a smile by watching a short comedic clip or reading a couple of jokes. Maintain a ‘humor journal’. Just as you might track gratitudes or daily events, jot down funny occurrences or thoughts that bring laughter. This can be a personal inventory of joy to revisit when you need a lift.
Creating a Positive Environment at Work
Share a laugh with colleagues. Introduce a ‘funny moment of the day’ during team meetings where each person can share a light-hearted story or joke. Humor boards. Devote a space on the office bulletin board for employees to post cartoons or humorous quotes—make sure the content is appropriate and inclusive to maintain a respectful workplace culture.
Challenges and Limitations of Using Humor
While humor can be a powerful tool in uplifting spirits, it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. Below, you’ll navigate the tricky waters of when and how to use humor effectively in mental health.
Recognizing Appropriate Contexts
You need to gauge the room before cracking a joke. Not every situation benefits from humor, especially in sensitive contexts where individuals may be dealing with serious emotional distress. Humor has to be used judiciously, tailored to a person’s condition and preferences, and it’s essential to ensure that it’s conducive to healing rather than being dismissive of one’s feelings.
Potential Pitfalls and Misunderstandings
Even with the best intentions, humor can backfire. You must be vigilant about two main risks:
Blocking Emotional Expression: Sometimes, humor can act as a barrier rather than a bridge, hindering the person from expressing deeper feelings or concerns.
Misinterpreted Messages: What’s funny to you might be offensive or hurtful to someone else. Misjudging the type of humor can lead to misunderstandings or even harm the therapeutic relationship.
By being mindful of these challenges, you can better navigate the delicate balance humor requires in mental health contexts.
Measuring the Impact of Humor
Understanding humor’s role in mental health involves two approaches: quantifying its effects and observing changes over time. Here’s how you can measure the subtleties and the long-term benefits of laughter on the mind.
Quantitative and Qualitative Assessments
In the quest to gauge humor’s effectiveness, you’ll encounter quantitative assessments, which look at numbers and statistics. Think surveys with Likert scales that ask you to rate your mood after a comedy show. Qualitative assessments, on the other hand, dive into the texture of your experience. You’ll find open-ended interviews asking how humor shifts your outlook on life. Both methods aim to capture humor’s essence in different, yet complementary ways.
Longitudinal Studies on Humor Intervention
To see humor’s lasting sparkle, longitudinal studies are your go-to. These studies track individuals’ reactions to humor over weeks, months, or even years. They can reveal how consistent chuckles might ease your stress or bolster resilience. Research suggests that engaging with humor can lead to notable improvement in mental well-being over time.
Future Directions in Research and Practice
Exploring humor’s potential in mental health is burgeoning. Your knowledge, paired with emerging studies, promises innovative therapies and deeper insights.
Innovative Approaches to Humor Therapy
The quest for new methods in humor therapy is exciting. You might find studies proposing techniques that intertwine surprise and confusion as part of the therapeutic process. Such methods could encourage you to rethink problems and foster resilience. Meanwhile, multiform humor therapy is gaining traction for its versatility and adaptability to individual needs, which could revolutionize personalized care strategies.
Expanding the Understanding of Humor’s Role
In understanding humor’s full impact, you’ll see an upswell in research that dissects its neuroscientific and psychopathological facets. Investigations will likely delve deeper into how humor can enhance well-being and serve as a preventive tool against mental health struggles. Your grasp of this information will be instrumental in crafting interventions that are both effective and enjoyable for those seeking help.
And that’s our laughter-filled journey! We’ve discovered how amazing humor is, not just for a quick smile, but for keeping our minds happy and healthy. Remember, every giggle and chuckle is like a mini workout for your brain, making you stronger in facing life’s ups and downs.
So, the next time you laugh, think about the awesome things it’s doing for your mind. Keep finding reasons to chuckle, because laughter really is a superpower in our everyday lives. Here’s to more laughs and happier days ahead!
As we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence actually liberates others. ~Marianne Williamson
In my mere forty years of experience on this wonderful planet of ours, I have come to realize many important (and not so important) things. For example, I have never really been one to get huge amounts of satisfaction from housework or spending my days at home.
Respect to those who do, it’s just not me. So, once my children were at school, I saw very quickly that a life without a career was not for me. As I love to share experiences and knowledge, I then realized that the world of education was the one I was meant for, and I became a teacher.
All of this is important — it has led me to do what I do, but it is being a mom that has led me to the most profound of realizations. You see, I was telling my children to be confident, to have faith in their decisions, to not let others affect how they think of themselves, when I suddenly recognized that I was guilty of doing the opposite.
I did let others affect how I thought about myself.
My words were just words. I understood that my children would not learn from what I said unless I backed it up with what I did. I had to understand why I was not practicing what I was preaching. After all — I believed in it. I would never tell my children anything other than what I truly believe would bring happiness. So what was going wrong?
Fear or Love?
I began to read books and articles, and after some time I discovered the answer: Everything we do stems from either love or fear.
The problem was I was choosing to be consumed with fear.
I feared that I did not shape up as a mother.
I feared that I was not the best teacher I could be.
I feared that the wonderful love I share with my husband might not last forever.
Although I never said any of this out loud (it was just my internal dialogue), I realized that my insecurities were clear in my behaviour. I was not happy. I had so much to be happy about, but I did not truly feel it.
I was not available emotionally, at least not to full capacity. My light was flickering rather than shining because I had been choosing fear. I had to change it to love and I had to figure out how.
Although this was not an overnight process, I became aware of my thought patterns and I changed them; the results have been like striking gold. Therefore, my advice is this: In every moment, do not choose fear, choose love.
What Does This Look Like?
Set Yourself Up. Start the day with five minutes of “thinking time.” Remind yourself that throughout the day you need to question your intentions before you act. Think of all of the people who make it easy for you to feel love and all that you feel grateful for. This will make you smile; it gives you a cosmic hug. It sets you up for a good day, every day.
Ask Questions. Regularly remind yourself that you are in control of your thoughts and feelings. No one else. Question your thoughts — don’t just accept the first ones you have.
Act with Understanding. If you feel bad, you have most likely picked a fear-based response to something or someone — question it and change it. Wait a moment, and choose to react from a place of love and understanding, not from one of judgement.
Everything Changes. Remember that a mood is not permanent. If you feel out of sorts, it will not last forever. Do whatever you need to do to make you smile again. Think of those you love. Extend love to those around you. It can’t fail to make you feel better.
Be Compassionate with You. Tell yourself you are enough. If you can’t do this without believing it, take action. Do what you need to do so that you can believe it, but be compassionate with yourself. Focus on how far you have come, not how far you still need to go.
Focus on What Inspires. Try to not watch too much news. It focuses too much on the negative. Instead, read something that inspires you, or listen to someone who you admire (this could be on the television; it does not have to be face-to-face). Websites such as this one and self-help books can be a real tonic. Dip into them regularly and take from them what you need.
End with Gratitude. Finish the day with the same thoughts you started it with. Pick out all of the good in your day and say a silent thank you for it. Make sure the last thoughts you have are ones that come from a place of love.
Why Choose Love?
You are the star of your own life — just as I am the star of mine and our brothers and sisters are the stars of theirs. And here’s the thing: We are not all that different, not really.
Essentially, we all crave the same thing — love and acceptance. We just make the mistake of thinking we have to look for it in someone else when, really, the only person we need to find it in is ourselves.
Once we do that, everything falls into place; we are in our lane. If we think of life as a race, the winners are those who stay in their lane, who train, who are focused on what really matters, who are not looking around at anyone else.
It is these people who naturally attract others, who bring success to everything that they touch. Why? Because they have chosen love — love for themselves and a love for the lane they are in.
This then spills out into everything else. We can all do this. We simply need to recognize when fear is present in our lives and practice replacing it with love until it no longer requires practice.
It is then that others see our true light and can be guided by it. It is then that we feel truly happy.
Never, ever underestimate the importance of having fun. ~Randy Pausch
A few months back I went to a friend’s birthday party. We grilled, chatted and played board games, among other things. When I returned home, I said to my husband, “I had so much fun tonight!” I was sort of stunned by the fact for days.
What struck me was that I had spent years before going to parties, hanging out with people and spending time on my own without having fun. If I looked back, most of the time I was supposed to be having a good time, I was worrying about something I’d done wrong or how I’d get something done later. It was a rough way to live.
It was when I started my own business that I understood this habit I had. I had no idea how to live in the present moment. And when you’ve just invested your time, energy and cash into a business you don’t know will work, it’s nice to have an outlet. I finally realized I needed to find a few I could lose myself in.
I’m fairly certain I’m not the only one who struggles to have fun in the way we’re meant to — losing yourself in the moment, laughing until your stomach hurts or just feeling so content you haven’t looked at a clock in hours.
I think, sadly, many of us never learn how to do this as children. Our lives may have been filled with chaos or been too rigorously scheduled.
Whatever the case, as adults we have the power to change how we spend our time and how we feel about it. Here’s how I found the courage to buy crayons and spend all afternoon coloring, just because.
1. Find the Fun
The first thing you need to do is figure out what it is that you enjoy. This might sound silly, but when I first realized I didn’t know how to play, it also dawned on me that I didn’t know where to start either.
So I went to the toy store.
And the art supply shop.
And the kids section in the library.
Going to where kids spend time and seeing what appeals to you can really get your juices flowing. I’m not suggesting you go buy out the toy store or anything. Just take a notepad and write down what looks like fun to you.
If you want, of course, grab something right away. There are no hard and fast rules. The first time I did this, I left with sidewalk chalk.
But the idea here is to get out of your comfort zone and see what new things there are to enjoy. For me, I would always lose myself in reading. That was one hobby I did enjoy. But I had no idea how many other fun things there were to do, and I wouldn’t have had the courage to try without some of the drawing books I found.
You can also think back to some of the things you enjoyed when you were little, if you were able to play as a child. Get together a big list from your memories, your field trip to the shops and parks, and get ready to start playing.
2. Put a Time on the Calendar
This might sound ridiculous. Who needs to schedule time to play? The answer? The very people who don’t play enough. For me, I would schedule a few hours every Saturday afternoon. This way I knew that I wouldn’t schedule anything during that time, and it would remind me to actually play.
Because honestly, if you’re anything like me, you will probably resist this a bit. You will want to continue getting your weekend chores done because they’re “kind of like play.”
Riiiiiight. I know loads of 5-year-olds who would rather paint the bathroom on a sunny day than play in the dirt outside.
This time is a commitment to yourself. Learning to play will relieve stress and open doors of creativity you never thought possible. It will make you a better person.
But that’s not why we’re doing it, right? We’re doing it because playing is awesome, and just because you’re grown up doesn’t mean you have to be serious all the time.
3. Start Playing & Stop Judging
Now that you’re about 20 minutes into your first play session as a grown up, you’re probably having some doubts about why you’re doing this. You might be afraid someone will see you. I know I certainly felt that way when I sat outside in our driveway with a bucket of sidewalk chalk drawing suns and flowers.
But that’s just you judging yourself. If anything, you’re inspiring those people. Everyone I ran into that day had some version of “Oh that looks like fun.” When I bought a coloring book, the lady at the store told me she missed colorin,g and a big smile appeared on her face when she heard I was buying the crayons for myself.
Keep playing. Let go of time and just enjoy your activity. If you’re not having fun, pull out your list and try something else. And keep adding to the list as you go. If something looks like fun, try it. If the swings at the park are calling your name and you don’t have five minutes to jump on now — on the list it goes.
And just because you want to try something doesn’t mean you have to commit to it or be good at it. Let go of your critic. Right now, let your inner-elementary-schooler out.
4. Invite Others After a Few Weeks
Fun is not something to hole up with all by yourself. It’s mean to be shared. That’s part of what fun is.
Of course, I’m an introvert, so sometimes I like being on my own having fun, but more often I enjoy drawing and going to the art shop with friends. It sparks creativity and generates new ideas. More than that, you can hold each other accountable.
I suggest waiting a few weeks because you want to know for yourself what you enjoy doing and what you’d rather skip. Also, it also gives you time to hear and deal with your own inner critic. This way, when you’re with your friends, you can talk about it and share notes on what yours says and how they deal with things.
There is something so joyful about creating something together, even if it’s just a papier-mâché ball you put together in an afternoon. Having fun together builds friendships and other relationships as well — trust comes easier.
Conversations can get deep while you’re finger painting, after all. And all of this teaches you how to live in the moment and have fun while you’re doing other “adult” things.
—
I am still learning new things about what I find fun. Some friends and I have a video project planned when the weather turns. We’ll have to rent a jet-ski, which sounds like a good time all by itself.
I like to think that because of learning to play, I’ve learned to make friends more easily and feel more comfortable being myself. I know for sure though, that by allowing my inner child back into the picture, I feel more complete — more integrated. And that is all sorts of awesome, no matter what age you are.
A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. ~Christopher Reeve
What makes us love Harry Potter or most action movies? Why do we always cheer for the good guys? Why do we love a good story of challenge, perseverance and triumph?
Why makes these stories timeless?
The story of the hero has not changed for thousands of years. Since ancient times our traditions and culture venerate the myth of the hero on a mission. A hero leaves his or her home, faces challenges, triumphs and usually returns home as a changed man or women.
In 1990 the late American writer and intellectual Joseph Campbell wrote of the hero’s journey — the mythological journey that all men and women go through in life. He believed that the highest purpose in life was to complete this journey like some mythological voyage.
A hero is without shape and beyond time; the human need for heroes transcends all cultures.
The Need For a Story
What makes a hero unforgettable is not their strength but rather their will. We admire their ability to transcend defeat and persevere. When we watch them we temporarily become them. We live vicariously through them. This is the lure of sports — an average person can experience the glory of the players.
What makes a hero so undefeatable? What makes him stand up after being knocked down a hundred times? The answer is simple. A story. Not just any story, but one that involves a deeply personal path that the individual walks alone.
It may be a story that his or her grandparents told them while sitting around the fire or one a mentor once inspired in them or perhaps it’s the result of some deeply powerful event.
Regardless of the medium, the story has been absorbed deep into the hero. The ups and downs of his/her adventure are not seen as separate events but rather as parts of one whole.
Like a beautiful cloth the ups and downs of the journey weave together to form his life.
This is real motivation —motivation that sees past the failures and successes to some grander purpose of life.
Each goal, each step, each time you fall down is seen within a bigger context. Like seeing the forest in its beautiful entirety, a hero doesn’t focus on the individual trees and plants.
Focus Rather Than Reaction
When we look at the bigger picture of our lives, we see the highs and lows as part of the journey. We avoid myopically focusing on separate goals and focusing our attention on a million different tasks. Instead of just reacting to events, we keep our focus.
To be honest, I have stumbled for the majority of my life looking for real motivation — one that lasts. I have jumped from goal to goal like a series of unsuccessful college romances.
My goals have served me well, but my direction hasn’t remained consistent.
It wasn’t until I questioned what was MOST important for me that my story became more well-defined. I wanted to do too many things in life. I can’t be the hero of my own story if I am trying to do everything and do nothing at the same time.
So I defined it.
How to Find Your Story
The first step is defining what is most important is focusing on what you want and cut out the rest. This clarity came to me in the form of a yellow legal pad and twenty-five well-thought-out things I wanted in life.
These were my goals, my dreams and my desires. I had a lot but I could only pick five. Doing this focused my attention and my life on the few things I really wanted. It allowed me to regain my purpose without feeling scattered like I did before.
Deciding which five things were the most important for me and physically writing them down acted as an affirmation of my own values. I put them on my wall to remind me.
The most powerful change always comes from the simplest things.
The exercise in priorities was not my trick but rather Warren Buffet’s. Buffet recommended this to his pilot who was struggling with what to do with his life. He advised him that the secret to ruthless determination is to collect your focus and only invest it into several dreams. Do not disperse it among twenty.
The moral of the story is that if you want motivation that transcends the individual goals and to-do lists, one that unites them all together in a greater purpose, you must define your story.
You are already a hero. You just need to create your story and live it.
1. Focus Your Energy
Use the exercise above. Using pen and paper or computer, write twenty-five things you want in life. Pick five. Set aside some time, an hour or so, to do this. You don’t want to be distracted.
You now have two lists — one to focus all your energy on and one to avoid. Put your lists on your wall in a place you can see them daily.
2. Embark on the Journey
This is both exciting and scary. Don’t start tomorrow. Start now. Like literally NOW.
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There is no perfect time. Starting is the first step of the journey. Write down your goals. I break mine into yearly, every three months and weekly.
3. Battle Monsters
Happiness is a by-product of meaningful experience. It cannot be directly pursued, and if it is it won’t last.
Instead challenge yourself to battle the monsters in your life. Know that failure is part of the process.
4. The Hero Returns
The hero always returns home wiser and better. Reflect on your journey and share it with others. Nothing in life is as worthwhile as sharing with others.
Our modern world, with all the amazing progress and technology, has forgotten many of our roots. Modernity has slowly annexed the role of tradition.
As our world becomes more integrated, it becomes easier to forget our individual relationship with life.
We increasingly look outside for motivation. We love quotes and uplifting speeches, but rarely do we turn our attention inward and see that true motivation lies in your own story.
Define what you truly want in life and reclaim your motivation.
What helps you get through those hard times? Drop a comment below, and let me know how you keep yourself motivated.
All my childhood, I studied hard and got good grades because I was motivated to escape my mother’s disappointment and wrath on failure. Others in my class were motivated by their desire to excel and get into a good college. Still, others were doing it to maintain their social status and to be recognized as excellent students. The word “motivation” holds a different meaning for different people, as what motivates you may not be sufficient for me and vice versa.
Let’s dig deeper into what the term means.
What is Motivation?
The word motivation has been derived from the word “motive,” which means the human need that needs to be fulfilled to achieve satisfaction. This need can be acquired over time through the elements that surround people, such as the kind of culture, lifestyle, or the kind of environment that is around them.
Motivation is a diverse and varied concept because human beings are diverse and varied themselves. Generally, motivation is a repetitive behavior, something that helps keep us going. It is the driving force that builds within us to take on challenges.
Unsurprisingly, the concept of motivation has been of interest to sociologists and psychologists alike. Research in multiple fields, including business, psychology, and sociology, has tried to explain the concept of motivation in terms of human behavior.
“People Who Are Crazy Enough To Think They Can Change The World, Are The Ones Who Do.” – Rob Siltanen
What is Social Motivation?
Social motivation refers to the human need to connect with each other and their desire to be able to be accepted by each other. Humans are not meant to live on their own, because they are supposed to coexist with others, and the need to interact with each other is what sets the basis of social motivation.
In this article, we will explain the concept of motivation in sociology. We will explain it with the help of different theories presented by psychologists and sociologists to understand human motivation and its sources.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
According to Abraham Maslow, a person’s motivation depends on his need level. His hierarchy of needs took a pyramidic shape where the lowest rung makes up the most basic level needs, and they keep moving upwards. Given below is the hierarchy of needs presented by Maslow.
Physiological needs: These are the basic survival needs of humans, such as food, water, and a place to live. Once these needs are fulfilled, humans move on to the second phase, which brings us to the second stage of the hierarchy.
Safety: The second most important human need is that of safety. It is human nature to protect themselves from any danger or anything that is a threat to them. Therefore, when humans are at this need level, they can be motivated by providing safety for themselves and their families.
Social needs: When the first two needs are fulfilled, humans look for relationships in which they feel as if they belong somewhere, and they are loved.
Self-esteem: All humans have self-esteem and dignity — they need to be respected and recognized as an important element that plays a role in human motivation.
Self-Actualization: The last level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is self-actualization. This is an opportunity for humans to develop and learn. It is the greatest level that humans can achieve. Once humans reach this level, they can only be motivated by their yearning for learning.
“Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again.” – Abraham Maslow
McClelland’s Theory of Needs
The second theory we will be discussing is McClelland’s theory of needs. This theory is based on three motivating drivers.
Achievement
According to McClelland, a sense of achievement helps motivate people to achieve greater things in life. Achievement is basically the feeling that humans feel when they accomplish tasks. People who aim for achievement are looking for tasks that would help them grow personally, and they receive their due recognition as soon as possible.
Affiliation
As humans, we all seek the need to feel like we belong somewhere and be socially accepted. Those people who seek affiliation are motivated when they are accepted in society. It drives them to work harder and achieve more. Such people are also happier when they are in social gatherings, and they want to avoid any conflicts with others.
Power
The third driving factor is authority; some of us are motivated by the desire to be in a position of power. Those people who desire power are constantly looking for situations in which they would be able to exercise their authority. They seek situations or jobs in which they would be in a position of authority, which motivates them.
Let’s take the simple example of house cleanliness; some people are motivated to keep their houses clean because they feel a sense of achievement in maintaining a clean house. On the other hand, some may maintain cleanliness because it allows them to connect with their friends and peers. While others maintain a spick and span home so they can maintain control and power among their peers.
Herzberg’s Motivation Theory
This theory of motivation is based on two factors: motivators and hygiene factors. These two factors are motivators that motivate people to work harder.
Hygiene factors
These factors ensure people don’t get dissatisfied. They are not a part of the job, but they make the job preferrable. Examples include the working conditions and cleanliness of an office. Does the company follow safety protocols? Is there enough lighting on the premise? Is there enough space in the office for the worker to be productive?
Motivators
These are factors that keep employees motivated. These can be different for different people, such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, or growth.
Implications of Social Motivation in our Daily Life
Applying the science of motivation in our daily lives can help improve performance at workplaces and even at our homes. Yes, many factors help people achieve happiness, but motivation is one of the biggest factors. Motivated human beings are more result-oriented and have clearer goals in life. A happy and balanced lifestyle may be maintained through the right amount of extrinsic and intrinsic motivating factors, as discussed in the theories above.
There are indeed different motivation factors for different people. No matter how many explanations there are, there will always be certain areas that are not yet covered since every human is different. There is still a vast amount of research being carried out on the subject to figure out human psychology in an in-depth manner.
As a leader, it is important to ensure that all the people working in the team are motivated. The motivation theories above give an insight into human psychology; managers and leaders can use these theories and motivating factors to motivate their employees according to their personality.
Time is the raw material of our lives. How we choose to spend it, shapes our life accordingly. So having the motivation to spend it on achieving goals is crucial to creating a life we want.
What is Motivation?
The Oxford dictionary defines motivation as the desire or willingness to do something – our drive to take action.
Scientifically, motivation has its roots in the dopamine pathways of our brains. When we do something that feels good, that’s dopamine kicking in. Our actions are driven by the desire for that reward (the good feeling).
Author Steven Pressfield describes motivation more practically. He says we hit a point where the pain of not doing something becomes greater than the pain of doing it. He sees motivation as crossing the threshold where it’s easier to take action than it is to be idle. Like choosing to feel awkward while making sales calls over feeling disappointed about a diminishing bank account.
However you choose to think about it, we all want to harness motivation to achieve our goals.
How to Get Motivated
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, says that most people misunderstand motivation. They think that motivation is what gets us to take action. In reality, motivation is often the result of action, not the cause of it. Once we start a task, it’s easier to continue making progress. Like Isaac Newton’s first law: objects in motion stay in motion.
This means most of the resistance when working on your goals comes right before we start. Since motivation naturally occurs after we start, we need to focus on making starting easier.
4 Ways to Make Starting Easier
1. Schedule it
One reason people can’t get started on things is that they haven’t planned when to do it.
When things aren’t scheduled it’s easier for them to fall by the wayside. You’ll end up hoping motivation falls in your lap or hoping that you’ll muster enough willpower to get it done.
An article in the Guardian said, “If you waste resources trying to decide when or where to work, you’ll impede your capacity to do the work.”
2. Measure something
It’s easy to feel uninspired when you don’t know if you’re making progress or what you’re even working towards. That’s why you need to make your success measurable in some way. Starting is easy when you know exactly how much closer your current actions will bring you to achieving your goal.
3. Extrinsic motivation
This type of motivation is from external factors. It can be either positive or negative. Positive motivation consists of incentives like money, prizes, and grades. Negative motivation consists of deterrents like being fired, having a fight, or being fined. Extrinsic motivation doesn’t work effectively long-term, but it can work well in the short term to get you started on something.
4. Make it public
Keep yourself accountable by telling friends and family your goals, or even sharing them on social media. This makes it easier to start something because you’re pressured to not let others down.
When we say we want to feel motivated to do something, we don’t want to be pushed or guilted into doing a task. We want to be so attracted and drawn to the idea that we can’t resist not taking action. That’s why it’s important to build a foundation that will set you up for consistency.
These are 5 techniques that will help you do just that:
1. Stay in your goldilocks zone
The goldilocks zone is when a task is the perfect level of difficulty—not too hard and not too easy. In this zone, we reach peak motivation and focus.
For example, let’s say you’re playing a serious tennis match against a 4-year-old. On this level of difficulty, you’ll quickly become bored and not want to play. Now let’s say you’re playing a serious tennis match against Serena Williams. On this level of difficulty, you’ll quickly become demotivated because the match is too challenging.
The Goldilocks zone is in the middle of that spectrum. You want to face someone with equal skill as you. That way you have a chance to win, but you have to focus and try for it. Adjusting your workload and goals over time to stay within your Goldilocks zone keeps you engaged and motivated long-term.
2. Pursue intrinsically motivated goals
Being intrinsically motivated to achieve a goal is when you want to achieve it for what it is. There are no external factors like a reward or the risk of being fired. The drive behind your actions is coming from within.
For most intrinsic goals we pursue them because they will enrich our lives or bring us closer to fulfillment. That makes these goals extremely sustainable long-term because they directly affect our quality of life and the things we care about.
3. Use “chunking”
Chunking is the technique of breaking down a goal into smaller short-term targets. By doing this you achieve multiple successes in your pursuit of the main goal. This triggers the brain’s reward system and drives you to keep going.
Traditionally, you may set a goal that you expect to achieve in one year. That’s a long time to commit without seeing any results along the way. By chunking your goals into monthly or quarterly targets, you get the consistent positive reinforcement you need to stay motivated long-term.
For example, instead of trying to lose 50 pounds in one year, try to lose 4 pounds every month for 12 months.
4. Be flexible
We’re all victims of circumstance. Things happen along our journey that we can either adjust to or quit because of. That’s why it’s important to have leeway and flexibility when you’re pursuing a goal. If you expect everything to go perfectly, the inevitable failure can make you disengaged and desireless. When you plan for things to go wrong, you make sure you can keep up for the long haul.
5. Pursue your goals in a sustainable fashion
Don’t lose hope when you’re not an overnight success. Overnight successes are the 1%—for the most part, they don’t exist. What we see as an “overnight success” is actually countless hours of work behind the scenes finally hitting a tipping point. Pursuing goals is a story of patience, persistence, and unseen effort.
Don’t compare yourself to others. Comparison is a recipe for a drop in self-confidence and satisfaction. It also cultivates a mindset where you think you haven’t done enough. As a result, you may raise your expectations and put more pressure on yourself.
This is pointless because things worth achieving take time. So we obviously won’t compare to the things around us when starting.
Mastering motivation is a superpower. With that ability at your fingertips, you can accomplish your goals and shape a life you want to live in.
What could we possibly achieve by listening to motivational speeches? Isn’t that a waste of time? It’s not. A great motivational speech can be a trigger to action. It inspires you to do something. Powerful speeches make you realize you’re not just a useless individual in this world. Everyone matters. You matter, too.
Have you been feeling that inner drive to seek a higher purpose for a long time? If so, you need to take action. First, you need a trigger that will get you to that action. Try to think of an influential person. Let’s take an example: Jim Morrison. He was one of the most charismatic individuals of his time.
“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.” That’s only one of the many pieces of wisdom he gave to humanity. These are not only words. They shrink deep inside you. They make you think. They make you act.
Jim Morrison said that during an interview. Back then, motivational speeches were not a big thing. Now, great individuals are trying to make a difference through that specific method. Are you ready to start exploring the best motivational speeches that will make you act?
Here’s a list of 7 of the best motivational speeches of all time:
1. Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address
This is one of the most emotional and inspiring speeches you’ll ever listen to. Although Jobs presented it way before TED talks became popular, you’ll notice it has a similar flow to an inspiring TED talk. It is relatively short, it has a theme, and it proves a point through a story.
Through this speech, Jobs tells us how we can find triumph through struggle. Jobs gave this speech one year after he was diagnosed with cancer. He had surgery and he was fine at that point. That’s the most important part of this speech: understanding our time here is limited. What are we going to do with it? That’s what matters.
Have you seen the movie Any Given Sunday? It’s a great one. The moment when Al Pacino gives one of the greatest speeches seen on the big screen is priceless. It’s not just a speech about football. It’s about winning. It’s about overcoming obstacles. It’s about becoming stronger. It’s about life in general!
“… In either game life or football the margin for error is so small. I mean one-half step too late or too early you don’t quite make it. One-half second too slow or too fast and you don’t quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second.” That’s only a part of this great speech. Funny enough, it starts with “I don’t know what to say, really.”
This one will make you laugh at first. J.K Rowling has a rare talent to make the listeners laugh and think at the same time. At one point, the writer gets serious and gives out the main point of this speech: sharing things she wishes she had known at her own graduation, and the important lessons she has learned between that day and the day of the speech.
There’s one aspect of this speech that makes it different from most others on our list: the talk about poverty. The writer tells the truth about it. There’s no romanticizing of poverty. As she says, only fools do that. This situation entails fear, stress, and depression… “it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships.” However, what she feared most for herself when she was young wasn’t poverty. It was a failure.
Essentially, this is a speech about the benefits of failure. Yes, there is such thing as a benefit from failure. J.K. Rowling is a living proof for that.
“I’ve been waiting more than 30 years to say this: ‘Dad, I always told you I’d come back and get my degree.’” That’s one of the funniest parts of this speech. Gates didn’t graduate. He is Harvard’s most successful dropout. He makes a big point, though: the fact that he dropped out doesn’t make academic life less of an important experience. Gates used to sit in on classes he hadn’t even signed up for.
As he says in his speech, one of his most precious memories of Harvard is being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. Education is important, and it is a privilege. However, getting to know the wider world is also important, even though it’s shocking for the most part.
5. Jim Carrey’s Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation
You would expect a funny speech from one of the funniest men on Earth, wouldn’t you? Well, here is a surprise: Jim Carrey is deep. This speech is enlightening, to say the least. The main message is to choose love over fear.
And yes, the speech is funny. It’s Jim Carrey, after all. However, it’s also very, very serious. “I am here to plant a seed that will inspire you to move forward in life with enthusiastic hearts and a clear sense of wholeness.”
Even if you take the safe route through, life, you might fail. If you follow your dreams, you might fail, too. But, you might achieve them – and that’s what makes the difference. In the speech, Jim shares an example: his father. He could have been a great comedian, but he made a safe choice: accounting. When Kim was 12 years old, his father lost that job that was supposed to be safe. That was the point when the actor learned the most important lesson in life: “… You can fail at what you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.”
If you’re in the middle of a crossroad and you’re wondering what road to choose, listen to this speech. It inspires you to choose the right thing. It inspires you to choose love over fear.
6. Will Smith’s Pursuit of Happiness Speech
If you haven’t seen The Pursuit of Happiness, go watch it right now. It’s amazing! Will Smith plays a homeless salesman doing everything he can to support his son. Will Smith gives a short but impactful speech to his son in the movie about going out and getting what you want out of life.
He says: “Don’t ever let somebody tell you, you can’t do something. You got a dream? You gotta protect it. People can’t do something themselves, they wanna tell you, you can’t do it. If you want something, go get it. Period.”
7. Sheryl Sandberg’s Commencement Address at the 2012 Harvard Business School Graduation
Sandberg offered the 2012 graduates some practical wisdom prior to them entering the business world. She urged them to remember to always communicate and practice honesty with others, which is not the norm in most workplaces. In fact, it’s likely not to norm for most people even with their friends or family.
She also talked about thinking of your career as a ‘jungle gym’ and encourages people to jump around instead of following the traditional path that most people have done.
Hopefully this inspires you to push your own boundaries and not be afraid to restart your path, pivot your career, and find different ways of doing things.
The Internet and all our other amazing information technology makes it extremely easy for you to find any piece of information you seek. Perhaps it’s too easy. There was a time, not so long ago, when you would have to fill in the gaps in your knowledge with imagination. Now, many of those gaps have disappeared. With Facebook, for example, you don’t have to imagine where your friends and family members might be and what they might be doing. You can know all the details instantly, with pictures and video and precise GPS coordinates.
That’s all well and good, but what is it doing to your imagination? If you ever stop exercising your physical body, it becomes flabby and out of shape. In order to live your daily life, you don’t have to walk great distances of chop wood or carry heavy objects. There are machines that do all that work for you. Unless you intentionally make the effort to exercise your body, it’s probably not going to happen very much.
In the same way, there are now machines and systems to fill in all the information details you need to know. And if you don’t intentionally make the effort to regularly exercise your imagination, what happens to it? Does it atrophy in the same way as a muscle that’s never used?
Actually, information technology gives you the opportunity to be even more imaginative if you choose to do so. The possibilities for exercising the imagination are greater than ever before. But the thing is, you have to choose it. Imagination is no longer necessary to get by in life, but then of course merely getting by is not what life is about.
Make the most of the opportunities you have to make rich, positive and creative use of your imagination. Don’t just sit there and passively absorb all the information that’s being fed to you. Disconnect from what’s mostly predictable anyway, and dive into your creative, imaginative essence. Take one little possibility and build on it, entirely in your imagination, until it covers a significant part of your world. You may be a little rusty at first, but you were born to imagine and soon you’ll feel perfectly comfortable and natural exercising your imagination. Get your imagination in shape, and discover all the new and wonderful things it can bring into your life.
Imagine a sparkling, blue sea, filled with life and color and beauty. Now think for a moment about how you can most fully experience it.
If you try to take it for yourself and keep what you have taken for yourself and no one else, all you end up with is a bucket of salty water. Yet when you let go of your need to possess, and dive in, immersing yourself in the sea and giving yourself to it, then you fully experience its magnificence.
Similarly, when you try to take from life and hoard a small bucket of it for yourself, whatever you get is not really worth having. It is when you dive in and give of yourself that you experience the real meaning and beauty of being alive.
Life is simply too grand and too magnificent for you ever to be able to take anything away from it. You can never take away and keep for yourself anything more than a mere token. When you really give is when you really live.
