Creating Discipline with Motivation

A common complaint with anyone struggling with mood and everyday tasks is the lack of motivation we feel to complete them. Most blogs will discuss the need for motivation and we all know how important it is but how do we maintain it?

We are mostly good at maintaining when things are new and exciting. The new is enough to create the motivation we need. What happens when the thing we once thought were amazing turns out boring? How do we maintain motivation?

I think the major myth about motivation is that we expect it to just fall on our lap one day and that will be enough to push us in the right direction. What we need to remember is that motivation is created. Just like any energy, we must build and create it to what we want it to look like. 

We need to remember that to motivate is a transitive verb. That means to motivate is something that causes action. We need to create something that will ultimately build the action of motivation. This isn’t something that manifests out of thin air or that just magically happens. We must build our own motivation. 

There is 2 types of motivation: Intrinsic and Extrinsic. 

Extrinsic motivation is something that is a reward that is outside of ourselves. Some examples include money/salary/pay raises/bonuses, prizes, winning a medal, or promotions. These are usually tangible things that we are given to continue to increase our motivation but also contribute to motivation in order to get them. 

Intrinsic motivation is enjoyment, our purpose, improvement in ourselves, growth, progress, curiosity, passion, fun, and self-expression. These are usually within, not usually tangible, and not something we can gain from our external environment. 

I think understanding these 2 different types of motivation is important to develop a motivational system for ourselves to maintain our motivation. With some things, we may look to the extrinsic while others we are perfectly motivated by the intrinsic. Let’s use a fitness goal as an example:

We are motivated usually by the intrinsic in the first 2 weeks when we begin working out. We are motivated by the newness of the programming, the planning, and the reason for working out for our overall health. But as the newness wears off, we then look extrinsically for our “results” to motivate us. This could be how we physically feel, it could be weight loss on the scale, or how our clothes fit. This keeps us motivated. What we will tend to do when we hit a plateau with fitness programming is look to the intrinsic again for motivation. But because this has also plateaued it might not be enough which causes us to look to comfort food or other dopamine activities to give us those feel-good chemicals because we are no longer getting them from our exercise program. A way to motivate yourself is actually to keep up with the extrinsic motivation by maybe starting a new program, going to a new gym, starting a different type of exercise, and this may increase motivation because we would be receiving different results and hopefully lead you back to the original intrinsic motivation of the purpose of being healthy. 

So coming back to our vision boards as a visual reminder of our intentions this year, we’ve focused on commitment and creating images that represent our “why” and the intentions we are trying to accomplish in the long run. So as you continue to add more things to this “live” board, think about the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation you can include. When you are looking extrinsically for your intention, what is something that your external environment could reward you with as you work on your journey? Do you need this reward daily, weekly, monthly? 

If we are looking to the intrinsic, what would be a good reminder of the internal progress you are making and the feeling you are striving for? Do you need to listen to others who are also on this journey and remind us that this is hard but also remember the little baby steps you have created for yourself? Support groups, podcasts, and books help with this intrinsic motivation. 

Remember that the more “alive” you make your vision board, the more it’ll represent your current progression and speak to you every day.