How To Motivate Yourself
Image courtesy of pescatello
It’s been a long time coming. A blog called “Motivate Thyself” has yet to hit on this very specific topic. It’s one of those subjects that many try to touch on, but few do more than repeat the obvious. “How to motivate yourself?” is a question that only YOU know the answer to. Hidden deep inside all of us is both the desire to do great things and the knowledge to strive for them. But for many of us, these are things that are buried beyond our normal understanding of ourselves. So if you want to know how to motivate yourself, you have to first learn a bit more ABOUT yourself.
First: What IS motivation?
Think about a car, sitting on a flat, paved road. The engine’s not running and the break is not engaged. Your job is to push the car past a certain point. So you lean into it and start pushing with all your might. At first it’s barely budging, but then starts creeping ahead. You dig deep and give it all you’ve got. The tires start to make their way around and the car starts moving forward. Now your energy is beginning to transfer from brute force to a kind of flow. The further you push the car, the easier it gets as momentum starts to make its way into the scenario. The motivation was the act of breaking the barrier between frozen and forward motion. Once that took place, momentum was born and your energy enhanced. So if you want to know how to motivate yourself, you’ll need to decipher your own personal tricks for breaking that barrier.
Second: Know what TRULY turns you on!
When I was a car salesman, my manager always tried to motivate us with money. I remember one specific instance when I had been working really hard and was looking forward to the following day as it was my day off. There was a big sale going on and the more salesman on the lot, the better it was for the dealership. So my manager came up to me with a kind of evil grin and said, “You gonna be here tomorrow?” (He knew it was my day off.) “Because you’ll sure make a killing if you ARE here!” In my mind I just rolled my eyes as I HATE being manipulated, but the point is, my manager just didn’t know my hot spots. Sure, I like money and all that, but I cherish my time much more. If he had honestly come up to me and said something like, “Hey Eric, I know you’re off tomorrow, but we could really use you on the lot. And if it helps, you’ll probably make some good money, which never hurts. But I totally understand if you can’t make it.” I may not have come in either way, but that kind of honest request lights a fire inside me that is much more likely to drive me to action, than just shaking some cash in front of my face. So if you want to know how to motivate yourself, you’ve got to know your REAL hot buttons. I have been the one to dangle money in front of my face many times, only to crash and burn when my drive shows its shallowness. But when I hit on what TRULY matters to me, nothing can slow me down.
Third: Focus on making the car move, not on moving the car.
Going back to the ‘car pushing’ scenario, I want to point out the importance of short sided thinking when it comes to motivating yourself. Focus takes energy and energy is the resource that starts the car moving. If our focus is spread out, our energy will be weak. So we can’t afford to worry about anything AFTER the car starts to move. That part will take care of itself. (ADHD moment…) It’s kind of like a magnifying glass in the sun. If the glass was flat and therefore spreads the light equally over the object in its path, nothing would happen. But by manipulating the glass to focus the light onto a pinpointed area, you harness all the power that the light has to offer, creating a powerful beam. So if you want to know how to motivate yourself, you have to stop concerning yourself with the whole process. Your job is to JUST break that ‘freeze barrier’.
Forth: You’ve got to CUT THE FAT!
Do you ever have those times in your life when even a few common tasks feel like a strain? Chances are, you’re bearing the weight of so many invisible burdens that EVERYTHING is a challenge. How can you put ALL your energy into starting that motion if half of it is being drained by these unnecessary burdens? I’m not suggesting that we can go throughout life, totally care free and lightly loaded, but much of what we willingly take on becomes a burden, not a future asset. Look at your days, see what takes up your time and determine the value of these tasks. Then cut those responsibilities that drain more than they produce. (Another ADHD moment…) You know when you get a new computer and there’s all that CRAPware preloaded on it? You know, those free trials of this and advertisements of that? And you know how sluggish everything runs because of it? Then you uninstall all the junk and suddenly your computer feels fast and efficient, the way you expected it to. Well this is precisely how many of us live. Loaded down with good intentions and what seemed like good ideas, we sluggishly go through our days, wondering why we can’t get anything done. So if you want to know how to motivate yourself, you need to go to ‘Add/Remove Programs’ and take care of some business. Unless, of course, you have a Mac. Then you can just sit there and laugh at the Windows users. 
Fifth: Learn to use past motion for future motivation.
I like to run during the winter. It’s easy to do when it’s cold outside and a great way to get some fresh air. But if I get out of this healthy habit, I find it much harder to act on. But if I can push through a few sessions, I find that the ones ahead are much more fluid. One positive makes the possibility of a second much more viable. Five, even more so. So if you want to know how to motivate yourself, you need to learn the magic of momentum as you harness the power of your past positive motion.
I hope I’ve done this topic justice. I would like to think that “Motivate Thyself” knows a little bit about how to “Motivate Yourself” (that domain name was taken, by the way. 
) But in the end it’s completely up to YOU. There’s no magic pill or formula to make it happen. Your drive is the product of your own doing and your willingness to endure the pain on your way to prosperity is key.
30 Responses to “How To Motivate Yourself”
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The drive to find purpose and meaning motivates me, more so because life is so short – there isn’t much time!
Great visuals! This will definitely help me on my journey.
I can’t believe it took so long to get this post on Motivate Thyself, Eric!
I guess you were waiting on perfection. Great job!
Writer Dad’s last blog post..Dad… dad… DAD!!!
“one properly pursued their passion while the other poisoned their life with it.”
This is a very powerful statement. If we learn to live in the present moment it’s impossible to poison our life with our passion.
Great post.
Tess Marshall’s last blog post..Big & Bold Mondays = 1/7 of Your Life
@ChasingSanity.com: Ever since my dad died at age 55 have I know the shortness of life and therefore felt the urgency of it as well.
@Matt: Thanks! I’m glad you got something out of it.
@Sean: That’s IT! That was my goal!
@Tess: Living in the present certainly helps us avoid living our lives for the ‘next big thing’. Good point! Eric
Hi Eric,
Momentum is a powerful way to get ourselves into the groove and get going. For example, if we knew that we could run 5km in the morning for just once, the 2nd time will be easier because we got the belief that we can do it.
Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger
Vincent’s last blog post..Why Multi Tasking Is Bad
Eric…this is great! Particularly when you mention your manager trying to tempt you with more money.
What is it with managers and their lack of i) people skills, ii) ability to boost moral, iii) ability to persuade?
Submitted to SU. Top post!
Melanie Thomassian’s last blog post..7 Ways You Can Encourage Your Friends to be Healthy
Motivating people is a full time job. And granted, most managers haven’t been given any training on people skills, consider the possibility that is shouldn’t be the managers job to motivate. People should be motivated by there moral compass. Each person should strive to attain one more level without outside persuasion.
Managers, should be able to trust their people to get their job done without looking over their shoulders. Managers need to spend the time evaluating the processes to improve efficiency in order to produce more with less effort. Now, management needs to have in place some rules that will guide people to a more efficient work force. Some of these rules are obvious,like safety and others are more sensitive like work place romance. But the bottom line is set the expectations and simple expect it. If your team members aren’t a team, get some that are. Teams, work toward a common goal if a goal is set for them. Again, a mangers duty…..set the goals above the current status quo, thereby challenging people to be better.
Holding a teams hands or watching them like a vulture is inefficient…..
By the way, the Bible tells all of us how to strive for that next better level of performance.
Great post! For me, a key component is being patient for the momentum to take hold. I’m training for a marathon & a half walk over two days, if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s for a cause and I’m registered, I would have slacked off a lot more in these first couple weeks of training.
@Vincent: Exactly! Building off of our past accomplishments allows for future success.
@Melanie: Thanks Melanie! Much appreciated. And to answer your question, I have NO IDEA. It’s like they’re all reading from the same manual on how NOT to motivate. I think it also has to do with the fact that their roles are often unnecessary.
@V: I hope all the best for the marathon! Eric
I like the idea of pushing car it’s like pushing your will, motivate people is easy, yet motivate ourselves is difficult, especially when your doing something that is not making anything but you have to believe yourself that you can surpass all obstacle.Great post.I’ll be watching closely.Cheers
Ari Lestariono’s last blog post..Natural Remedies: Swap The Wine with Grapes
When I need motivation, I simply ask myself: “Why would I want to do this?”. So if I don’t feel like washing my car, I pose the big question and think… because it will look great after I’ve done that, because it’s hot and this will cool me down a bit… etc.
So just ask that question! Ask why, find the positive answers and motivate thyself
Dimitar Nikolov’s last blog post..How To Win Friends
@Ari: Thanks! I’m an analogy guy, so I can’t help myself.
@Dimitar: Excellent insight! Eric
I found that once I found something I want bad enough or got myself to want it badly enough, motivation just came naturally. Once the actions became habit, not much motivation was needed. Finding a good enough reason to do something is a powerful way to motivate yourself. Great post by the way.
Motivational’s last blog post..Apr 4, Brain Machine Interface – BMI
I love this line:
“If the glass was flat and therefore spreads the light equally over the object in its path, nothing would happen. But by manipulating the glass to focus the light onto a pinpointed area, you harness all the power that the light has to offer, creating a powerful beam.”
There’s a lot that can be taken from this. I shall meditate on it.
I also like this line:
“But in the end it’s completely up to YOU. There’s no magic pill or formula to make it happen.”
That is crucial. Because, no matter how good the advice is, ultimately, the person who receives the wisdom still has to turn something on inside themself and keep it on.
Motivation is the desire to achieve goals. It is tough to maintain a high level of motivation in all the phases of your life. But we have to realize that staying motivated over a long period of time simply requires having a vision that is big enough to motivate you. So, set your goals and start working on the ways to achieve them. -Max
I just started reading about motivation, because I’m having a terrible time becoming motivated, especially with my art. I’ve been trying to sell my art as a vendor and it’s been pretty slow. I end up leaving each day feeling discouraged, I’m not sure how to motivate myself so I look for outside wisdom. I agree that you have to get rid of the junk to make the machine run well. I like the idea of starting anew again, a fresh start but I invested many years in my craft and right now my misery is affecting my passion, so I’m trying to take things slowly. I sure wish I can find out how to connect with my art with people, that would be a start.
Josh’s last blog post..When having great respect for mother nature is essential.
Hey Josh, it sounds like you’ve got the passion, but are torn about which direction to focus your attention.
I wish the best with whatever you do and hope you find effective ways to motivate yourself as you peruse your passions.
Eric
Giving tips on dealing thyself to achieve success is a very impressive act but respect on each and everyone’s idea about something is one of the way through the knowledge beyond thyself.
Thanks and good points as well! It definitely is about wanting something bad enough. Eric
Exactly, Bamboo! The advice is often an important triggering mechanism, but it’s totally up to the person to allow themselves to be in a state to be effected by that insight. Or it’s up to the individual to run with it.
I’m glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for sharing your thoughts. Eric