A Motivation Theory To Try Right Now

A good motivation theory has to recognize the fact that we each get motivated differently. In the practice of neuro-linguistic programming  or “NLP” this is taken into account in many ways. One of the more useful NLP theories is the concept of “away-from” and “towards” personalities.

Of course, we each have both modes of operation as a part of the way we function, but often one is dominant in each of us. Those in who the “towards” motivation dominates will be more affected by thoughts of future rewards. Those with a primarily “away-from” motivational style, will be more affected by thoughts of escaping pain or trouble.

Why not use this test to get an idea about which motivational style dominates your personality? Just read the following two descriptions of what having millions of dollars could mean to you.

1. You are safe and secure. You never have to return to your job or do anything you don’t want to do. You have the means to eliminate most of your problems easily. You have everything you need to be free and comfortable.

2. You have the house of your dreams, and your favorite car too. You buy anything you want for you and your friends, and you do what you want. You have the means to achieve any of your goals.

If the first description is more compelling to you, you primarily have an “away-from” personality. If you feel more motivated by the second description, you have a “towards” personality. There are good and bad points to both types. “Towards” individuals make good entrepreneurs, for example, but often get into trouble because they don’t plan well enough to avoid problems. “Away-from” individuals manage things well and avoid problems, but don’t do as well at big goals.

So how do you use this motivation theory and this knowledge about yourself to your best advantage? Suppose you want to make more money and you are an “towards” person. You would want to envision the things you’ll buy and do with that money, but also be aware that you may be glossing over the problems. If you are an “away-from” person, you’ll need to continually remind yourself what a mess it will be if you fail. Otherwise you’ll lose your motivation once you reach some level of comfort.

Of course, when you understand these two motivational styles, you can also influence others more easily. If you wanted to sell a new car to someone, for example, you would first determine if they are motivated away from things or towards things. For the former, you might explain how this new car will mean no more used-car hassles, or how it will make life easier. For the latter, you would explain how great they’ll look in it, or what it can do.

You can play with this theory, and practice using this knowledge to influence others, but don’t forget to influence yourself. While it is useful for understanding and influencing others, this is a motivation theory that is best used to affect your own self improvement.

How Great is the Strength of Your Belief?

Be careful what you believe because that is what you will experience. Your belief system is a mechanism which is uniquely yours. It is powered by your desire and controlled by your thoughts and actions. In other words, your success is measured by the strength of your belief.

What is it that you desire?

Often people do not have a clue what it is they want, they just know what they do not want. Now is a good time to evaluate your goals and determine the end result you want to achieve. Put your goals in writing and place them where you can see them throughout the day. Read them frequently to keep them fresh on your mind.

•    Be inquisitive. Research and learn as much as you can on how you can achieve your goal. Use all possible resources such as books, CDs, courses and people. Yes, people. Talk to as many people as possible who are already successful in what you want to achieve. Ask, ask and ask some more about what they did to reach success. Do not limit your contacts to only the people you already know. Introduce yourself by phone or mail, explain your purpose for contacting them and ask for a tip. The worst thing that can happen is that they ignore you. The best thing that can happen is that they become your mentor and offer support and encouragement. Chances are you will receive at least one great tip from many of the people you contact. This method is the least expensive and most rewarding.

•    Be unique. Next, take the ideas you learn, embellish them and come up with your own creative process. Think of how you can approach your goal in a way that no one else has. Dare to be different. Don’t be afraid to take risks. What do you have to loose? Write out a list showing the worst things that could happen and then list all of the best possible outcomes. Always maintain your concentration on your desired result.

•    Be better than your competition. When you were a child and saw your older siblings or friends riding a bike (without training wheels), you didn’t look at their scraped knees and elbows and say, “Whoa, I could get hurt doing that.” Instead, you begged to try it for yourself. With a great deal of practice and often pain, you gradually learned how to maintain your balance. Before long you were trying to “out do” your friends with your speed or fancy tricks. When you fell, you would get back on and try again with even greater determination. From your very first effort, you believed in your mind that if you got back on, you would eventually learn to ride. I bet you even knew in your mind you would be the best in the neighborhood, in your school, in the state, in the world!

•    Be positive. If you see obstacles before you, then you will also only see problems. If you have hesitations that you plan will not work, then it will not work. If you are influenced by the power of negative people, then you will never be any better than they are. Believe in yourself and what you are capable of achieving.

When your desire to succeed is stronger than the pain, fear or frustration of failing, there is no turning back. I challenge you to view your goals just like you did when you were a child before you learned about self doubt and negative criticism. Remember, anything is possible as long as you believe. Make a commitment that you will not let anything or anyone, including yourself stand in your way of reaching your goals.

The Tao of Motivation

 Author: Staurt Shaw 

If you think you need to ‘get motivated’ … then I am sorry but you are thinking in reverse.

Why?

Because neither motivation nor inspiration are things that you can get ‘out there’, like they are things you can buy at a supermarket.

Does a tree need to ‘get motivated’ to reach its branches towards the sky?

Does a river need to ‘find inspiration’ to flow down to the sea?

They sound like silly questions right?

But they are no more ‘silly’ then the notion that you need to ‘get motivated’ to be the success you are naturally destined to be.

In saying things like, “I need to get motivated” or, “I need to find inspiration” you create a separation within … a motivator and a motivatee.

Doing this can create an internal scenario where part of your mind becomes the “Task Master”, the one with a whip and a drill sergeant’s bellow, and another part the “Wretched Slob” who performs up to standard only to keep the whip off his back. Such internal conflict is destructive to one’s well-being and is also a major waste of energy.

This type of motivation is external and artificial. ‘True’ motivation and inspiration are internal and come as naturally as breathing.

You see, there are four types of people. The first is the unconscious incompetent. This is the person that doesn’t even know that they don’t know. This is the lowest rung in the ladder.

The second type of person is the conscious incompetent. This is the person that knows that they don’t know, but they still don’t know what to do. The model above of “The Task Master” and “Wretched Slob” fits this type of person well. They consciously want to be achieving things but their internal incompetencies and personality traits sabotage this desire.

The next type of person is the conscious competent. This is the person that knows what to do, and then if they think about it, they can go ahead and do it. Instead of the “Wretched Slob” this person might internally be a “Super Star” but they still need “The Task Master” with his whip.

The highest level of person, though, is the unconscious competent. This is the person that has it so ingrained in them as to what to do, that they don’t even have to think about it. They just automatically do it.

The unconscious competent does not need any sort of external motivator … motivation for them is a natural, internal state of being.

Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching1 begins by saying:

One of subtle universal virtue

is not conscious of being virtuous,

therefore, he is truly virtuous.

Applied to motivation, it could be modified to say:

One of subtle universal motivation

is not conscious of being motivated,

therefore, he is truly motivated.

Look at young children playing. Do they need conscious motivation to be playfully exuberant? It is only when social conditionings encroach that this natural exuberance diminishes and we have to resort to artificial ‘motivational systems’ so that we can do the things that used to come to us ‘naturally’.

Here’s a personal example, for a long period of time my internal “Task Master” would be always telling me to exercise more because I wasn’t as fit and trim as I used to be. I tried all sorts of processes including reward/punishment systems, time management systems, personal trainers, going to the gym and the list goes on.

But then in a moment of clarity my inner youth piped up and said, “Hey! Wouldn’t it be much easier if you just did something that you really enjoyed?”

That’s when I discovered Hacky Sack. For the uninitiated a Hacky Sack is like a little bean bag that you have to try and keep up in the air with only your feet … just like the pro soccer plays do with soccer balls.

*** I LOOOVE HACKY SACK! ***

Playing Hacky Sack for me isn’t exercise at all … not in the sense of, “OK now I am exercising.” I went from struggling to ‘exercise’ once per week to having up to 2 or 3 full-on sessions with the Hacky Sack every single day. I grab every chance I can to kick that little sphere of joy up into the air!

You see my motivation to exercise went from an external, artificial affair to an ‘unconscious competence’ state of being. By digging deep within me and discovering that my true nature is very playful, exuberant, and youthful I was able to discover ‘automatic motivation’ to engage in exercise.

I now don’t have to ‘get motivated’ to exercise … I just get out there and play because I am motivated from within to do something that I really love doing.

And there … right there … is the essence of motivation.

In the I Ching (the Book of Changes)2 you will find that it is the nature of things for life to be ever-changing, ever in motion, ever ‘motivating’ into new manifestations. So it can be said that ‘motivation’ is a natural prime mover that keeps life going on its merry course.

When viewed in this light motivation can be seen as a core fundamental principle of your very being. So if you feel you are suffering from a lack of motivation it basically means you have cut yourself off from your core inner reservoirs. It means that you are not in tune with your true nature.

At a basic level this is caused by 2 things:

a) You have an internal ‘blocker’ that is preventing you accessing your inner reservoir of motivation. In essence, your inner ‘river’ of inspiration has been clogged up with a lifetime of debris and conditionings.

b) Also, a lack of motivation can be the result of engaging in something that is not truly your ‘path of heart’ (which is usually caused by having internal blockers).

The solution of course is to remove these internal blockers so that you can once again integrate with your limitless reservoirs of natural energy, enthusiasm, and motivation. Unblock the dam and the river flows again.

Until you can tap into your inner source of motivation your attempts to ‘get motivated’ will only create superficial motivation because as soon as you stop the motivation process you run out of motivation. Like when you are cold you put a jacket on to get warm, but when you take the jacket off you get cold again.

What you need to do is to reach the stage of being unconsciously competent, or unconsciously motivated. Motivation needs to be so much a part of your being that you don’t even realize that you are being motivated.

You see that is the secret to motivation … it is not about how to ‘get motivated’ …

…but how to ‘be motivation’.

Because the truth is that you already are motivation. You just need to clear away the ‘debris’ and let your natural motivation and inspiration flow forth.

ends

References:
1 Ni, Hua Ching (2003) The Complete Works of Lao Tzu. LA: SevenStar Communications Group, Inc.
2 Ni, Hua Ching (2002) I Ching, The Book of Changes and The Unchanging Truth. LA: SevenStar Communications Group, Inc
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stuart Shaw is a recognized motivational speaker and poet. His web site, [http://www.inspirationmagic.com], provides a wealth of inspirational articles, poems and resources on everything you'll ever need to know about motivation and personal success.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Staurt_Shaw

Five Secrets to Unlimited Motivation

Author: Joseph W Scott

Motiv-Hate or Motivate

5 secrets for unlimited Motivation

In life we need energy to live, to exist and to do things with our life and with others. Yet sometimes we can miss life through talking ourselves out of it. Just like this:

• I just can’t be bothered
• It’s just too much effort, I’m tired
• It’s not worth it, who cares
• Sure, one of these days…
• Yes, I know that I should, but…

Sound familiar? If this is you, and you are saying this to yourself and or to others, you are lacking one of the key ingredients in the recipe of life, MOTIVATION:

MOTIVATION; the psychological feature that arouses an individual to action toward a wanted goal; the reason for the action

So, we can define motivation but does that help? Usually not enough! What is this thing called ‘motivation’? Where do you find it? How can we get motivated?

The first secret to share here is Secret No.1 ‘motivation is not a thing’ it is not a noun. You will never trip over motivation that someone has left in the bathroom, nor will you find a chunk of it in the fridge! Has anyone ever bought a kilo of motivation from the shop? I think not!

If that is the case, then what is motivation, how can we be motivated and more importantly how can we motivate ourselves? Would you like unlimited motivation, does this interest you? If so, read on because that is the design of this article.

Motivation is a set of thinking strategies or processes that we run for ourselves… Did you notice what you just read? ‘…That we run ourselves! What does this mean? It means that we are responsible for how motivated or not we are! It means there is no point looking to another to provide motivation for us; in fact it is impossible for another person to motivate us, only we can decide what is or is not motivational to us. So Secret No.2 to motivation is ‘we are responsible for the amount of motivation we have’. Can you start to sense the power you have over yourself when you take responsibility for you?

What is it that drives us to feel motivated? What drives motivation? Further, how does motivation drive us toward what we want, need or believe? What is this fuel? The answer brings us to secret No. 3, ’emotions are the fuel of motivation’ and ultimately are what drive us! Let us take a look at how emotions ‘drive or move us to action, the best place to start may be with the word ’emotion’.

E-motion, as we look more closely at this word we can see its structure.

‘E-nergy in motion’;(e motion). Our emotions are our energy. Typically we can put emotions’ into three distinctive categories:

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative

As we can define our emotions into these three simple types, then what does that also say about our energy? Well, we can make the same distinctions for our types of energy; positive, neutral and negative energy. This leads us to Secret No.4 ‘People are motivated and can motivate themselves using these 3 different types of energy’ so can you!

The affect of positive emotion often gives us the energy to move toward what we want or need, we somehow feel pulled or drawn (motivated). As we experience neutral emotions we can ‘take it or leave it’ and with negative emotions we experience discomfort, a form of pain and we (are motivated) try to get or move away from the cause of such. We can represent this with a diagram:

The Axis of Motivation

Whether we move away from the pain and consequences or toward the good feelings or outcomes in our life, both create energy that we put into motion to do something. This is motivation. Now what this gives us is a strategy for developing unlimited motivation for anything we want to do or have in life.

Typically, human beings have a preference to which end of the motivational axis they motivate or get motivated by. We can ask ourselves some questions to identify our own preference for getting motivated. Ask yourself the following questions and notice if you are motivated toward what you want or away from what you don’t want:

I get out of bed in the morning;

1. Because I have to (away from)
2. Because I want to start the day (toward)

I take my medicine regularly;

1. Because I want to be well and live life as fully as I can (toward)
2. Because if I don’t I will become ill or possibly die (away from)

When asked I will go out and socialise with others;

1. Because I like to meet and be with other people (toward)
2. Because it is rude not too and I don’t want to upset anyone (away from)

I keep my home tidy;

1. Because I like it like that (toward)
2. Because I get moaned at if I don’t, or someone unexpected may come round (away from)

I understand that regular exercise is healthy for you;

1. And I exercise because I want to get the health benefits from it (toward)
2. And I exercise because if I don’t my health may get worse (away from)

I do things;

1. Because I can
2. Because I have to

How many ‘towards’ or ‘away from’ did you identify with? Most people will find themselves using motivation at just one end of the axis, either mainly toward or mainly away from.

Now that you have this understanding on how YOU are typically motivated, we can move to Secret No.5.

This secret is the one that brings all the other secrets together and will show you how to get unlimited amounts of motivation for the rest of your life! Secret No.5 says ‘Combine both away from and toward energies at the same time and you will create a personal motivation that propels you into action’! By becoming aware of the other energy available to you, at the other end of the motivation axis you can ramp up the emotional motivation to get you to take action, to feel motivated and finally in control of you!

Either now or later, take 5 minutes to take yourself through the unlimited motivation pattern below. These x simple questions can be applied to anything that you need more motivation for, any time, anywhere. After you have used this pattern a couple of times you will be motivating yourself and possibly other like an expert!

The Unlimited Amounts of Motivation Pattern

1. Identify something in your life you want to have or be more motivated about (This can be anything, getting out more, going to the gym, or doing the housework, anything…)
2. Once you have identified something, write it down so you don’t forget what you are working on
3. Notice your current motivation style associated with this activity, are you motivated away from or toward? If you are away from read and ask yourself part A, if you are toward, read and ask yourself part B

Part A, You are moving away from the pain or consequences, but you can put up with it for awhile. First notice how real the discomfort is, what else could be a problem or even more painful if you don’t take action on this.

To add even more energy to your motivation notice what you will get that is good or pleasurable once you have taken the action or started the activity. Notice how good it feels and how good it will feel when you have completed this activity… So as you experience all of this about that activity, notice just how much energy you have for taking the step to be doing it… Go do it then!

Part B, You are moving toward the activity, but it doesn’t pull on you enough to take any action. First notice just what attracts or pulls you toward it in the first place, that’s right, now as you think about that, ask yourself, what is important to me about this…

What does the importance of this mean to you, how do you feel about it now, knowing this? Just imagine what it would mean if you never did this, you would never realise this meaning and its importance. It could be the start of procrastinating on other important and meaningful things in life, you wouldn’t want that to be true would you? Be with this awareness, notice the heightened pleasure and possible pain if you don’t act on this as soon as you can… Just now, notice HOW much energy and motivation you know have for this… Get on with it then!

Congratulate yourself on doing or starting the activity, notice how well you can motivate you to take the actions that are important to you. Notice the sense of independence and pride you have for yourself as you read this and start to take the first steps to becoming expert at developing your own motivation, imagine the possibilities you now have for your life…now.

Joseph W. Scott Managing partner @ TheCoachingRoom Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia
For more great insights join our fortnightly newsletter; EvolvingIntent email to joseph.scott@thecoachingroom.com.au http://www.thecoachingroom.com.au

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5 Tips To Supercharge Your Motivation

Motivation is the driving force behind life-enhancing change. It comes from knowing exactly what you want to do and having an insatiable, burning desire to do what’s necessary to get it. It keeps your dream on track as it is the power of motivation that keeps you going when the going gets tough.

Here’s 5 top tips to help you supercharge your motivation:

1. Create a picture board and fill it with images of your desired goals. The car you want to own, the house you want to live in, the area where you want to live yes, they’re the obvious ones. Others could be pictures of holiday destinations, trophies, first-class travel tickets, clothes you want to buy, fine restaurants you want to frequent – whatever you can think of that gets your pulse racing.

2. GET ANGRY. If you want to change your life for the better then get angry about where you’re at now. Having a blasé attitude towards change isn’t what’s needed and it won’t create a strong desire within you. So ask: “Why do I want to change?” Is it because you’re FED UP with debts? Does your job DRIVE YOU CRAZY? Is your life DULL AND PRECITABLE? Are you SICK AND TIRED of doing the same thing week in week out? Are you BORED BEYOND BELIEF by the dull, uninspiring, unhappy people you associate with? THEN GET ANGRY ABOUT IT. And I mean REAL ANGRY. Write it all down, all of the frustrating, unrewarding, miserable lot of it that makes every day a dull slog until your final days. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?

3. Speaking of your final days, start to appreciate the value of time. Time is one of the most precious resources you have and it is also a NON RENEWABLE resource. You can either use it fully or squander it. If you want to create change you’re going to have to invest a lot of time to make it happen. Start to reduce the time you waste on irrelevancies: Television, newspapers, lie-ins, weekends spent shopping, partying, dining out, visiting an endless line of relatives and friends – these won’t help you get what you want and all of them will rob time from you. Valuable time that you can use much more effectively by investing it in YOU. Remember this: You have a finite amount of time here on Earth. You don’t know how much time you have – no one does. But it’s how you use the time you have that counts. So make your time count and that means starting from right NOW.

4. Conformity. Are you a mindless little sheep who’s way too timid to pursue your own way? Do you have to follow where everyone else goes, doing exactly what everyone else does and therefore, who gets the same levels of happiness as all the other little sheep? Seriously, does this describe YOU? Are you too frightened to be different than all of the other sheep because they wouldn’t like it if you decided to follow a different path? So you dutifully trot along following all the other sheep because if they’re doing it then that’s how it is right? But if you do what everyone else does you’ll just get what everyone else gets. Do you want to be a mindless, timid little sheep who blindly follows all the other sheep? Or do you want to be a leader, a warrior who possesses the courage to be uniquely you and to do what you want to do and make your dreams happen? If so then this means you have to be more like a tiger than a sheep. Do you really want to be a sheep? I mean, haven’t we got enough sheep already?

5. Fear your fear. Fear is the force that is determined to stop you in your tracks and rob your dreams from you. But it can only do this if you let it. Are you going to let this cruel destructive charlatan trample on your dreams, steal your happiness and crush your spirit? Imagine this thought haunting your final days: “I didn’t do the things I wanted because I was too frightened to live”. And by then, it’ll be far too late to conquer fear. Refuse to let fear spoil your life and start taking action – now!

The world is waiting for your unique gifts. Why keep it waiting any longer?