PersonalDevelopmentBlog.info Goal Setting – Putting Motivation Into Perspective If you’ve ever worked in a corporate environment, especially in a management position, you’re no stranger to the concept of establishing goals and their importance to any organization that practices management by objectives. Even if you’ve never been in a position requiring you to define specific, measurable goals, you may not realize that every single day you’ve done so. Chances are, by not knowing you were actually setting goals, you were able to achieve them with far less analysis than accomplished through formal goal setting. The difference between achieving formal goals versus informal goals is one of motivation. Quite often with formal goals, we may make progress towards our objective, but not have a clear understanding of the process required – and we often see a decline in our motivation to continue or to continue effectively. This is perhaps most often seen in group work environments, where one or two members of the group seem to “Get It”, while others just sort of follow along, contributing as asked and simply waiting for others to ensure the goal is achieved at some hazy future point. Yet as individuals, we are often able to accomplish our own informal goals almost subconsciously. Each and every day of our lives, we plan, act upon and accomplish innumerable short-term goals, while simultaneously working towards longer-term goals, by establishing patterns of activity. For example …
Think about how a particular beat in music makes you want to start tapping your foot then it builds up through your body and soul and suddenly your whole body is moving on its own to the beat. Motivation is that beat. Listen to it, feel it and do not ignore it.
Motivation is the power source that gets you moving out of our comfort zone to explore bigger and better goals to achieve. Motivation is that instrument, so make use of it every chance you get. Self motivation will definitely boost your energy level to seek those goals you have always wanted. Take it use it to declare that you want to boost your love life, your personal relationships, your business relationships, and whatever area you want to increase your value. This very powerful tool is yours to use to assist in creating a better anything you want. This new found emotion will bring you to levels that you thought you would never achieve, but that is it you can achieve anything with self motivation. Yes I can Yes I will. The determination to reach any goals you desire will be unstoppable. The empowerment you have discovered will not allow you to quit. The steam has built up and now you are on the road to success. Confidence is key and will be an inspiration to your goal setting.
Many say they are only motivated by the money they can possess. Well, money is not the only motivator. When I was a teenager a very learned man explained to me that there are riches in a good name. To bring shame to your family is not a motivator, but bringing pride to you and your family is such a great motivator. There so many people who only want to do what is good and this could be towards their friends, family, or a group. Social work rarely brings riches in the form of money to one self, but brings a purpose to your life and more importantly to the lives of the people you have helped. I can as of the writing of this article feel my heart swell with pride knowing that I am helping many people achieve their life’s goals.
Increase your self esteem and your confidence and work on self motivation. As we have heard so many times in our lives this inspirational quote, “the world is your oyster”. Believe in it. Take pride in yourself by using positive self-talk to motivate yourself to many levels to bring about a better happier you.
Have you ever heard someone say something like, “I haven’t felt motivated lately,” or, “I’ll do it as soon as I feel motivated enough?” I know that I have and, truth be known, am guilty of using these and similar phrases myself. You see, I, like many others, used to believe that action only happens through motivation. That, I must wait around for the so-called “feeling to move me” before I will get anything accomplished.
Well, I was wrong. And I believe that I was wrong for two reasons. First is that I was unable to see the ‘big picture’ – the reason that the ‘thing’ had to be done in the first place and how that ‘thing’ relates to other things that I wanted to accomplish, do, enjoy, etc.
And secondly because, quite frankly, I just didn’t know how I operated. Oh sure, I liked to believe that I was in control of myself, but why then was I not able to motivate myself if I did indeed have so much control?
Motivation is really like creativity, or any other drive or impulse. We can wait around for it to magically appear, which it often does and often at the most inopportune times (remember all the really great ideas you’ve had while driving down the road without a notebook or tape recorder to capture it? Or how about the times we’re motivated to do something cool that our friends or family would really like but everyone else’s schedule doesn’t fit our ‘moment of brilliance.’ Remember?
No, the secret with motivation is to realize that it cannot be relied on to create action. It does, but in no predictable, usable way. Without the unpredictable variable such as luck, coincidence and the like, to rely on an emotional impulse such as motivation to drive us forward is like waiting for food to appear in your cupboards without going to the store to buy it.
How then do we create motivation? The answer, ironically, is in the question itself. How do we create…?
To create anything, we take action – we have to ‘do’ something. And actions themselves come in three forms – as thoughts – as speech – and, of course, as physical deeds. It is here that we find the necessary ingredients for ‘creating’ the motivation we need.
How? Let’s take a look at the grocery scenario and ask another question: “What motivates us to go shopping for groceries in the first place?
Most people would answer, “I don’t have any food in the house.” But, a Ninja looking at the bigger picture would ask another question focused on the “why.” Why don’t I have groceries in the house? Because I or someone else ate them. Actions preceding the need for motivation is precisly what ’causes’ the motivation to occur. Once we understand this little secret, we are then free to use the same formula to do it again and again.
Groceries are one thing, you say but, what about my goals. After all, groceries are a necessity, my goals are just dreams, wants, and wishes.
Here-in lies the answer to my first problem. Remember?
Right. The inability to ‘see’ (a mental action) how my goal was a necessary part of living the life I wanted to live. Because, once I was able to see how vital it was that I attain my goal – how I could not accomplish other things I wanted to do, I was then endowed with all the motivation I could handle to do what needed to be done.
So, it is true that motivation leads to action, but only, and I mean only, after it is caused into being by a previous action. There must be something in place, a thought or dream, a promise (verbal action), or something that must be handled (like an assailant’s attack) that requires action NOW, before motivation will be the compelling drive for us to move.
Can you imagine using the same excuse for not achieving the goal you want when confronted by an attacker? I really don’t think that “I’m not motivated to do anything right now,” is going to make him or her go away – do you?
About the Author
Jeffrey Miller is the founder and master instructor of Warrior Concepts International. He is a consultant for businesses and groups, on self-protection & personal development. For more info, subscribe to his ezine here.
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Motivation is sometimes tough to maintain, particularly for those who suffer from low self-esteem. However, motivation is integral to our ability to accomplish our goals and even complete tasks throughout our lives. We require daily motivation at work, at home, at the gym and even at play. Sometimes depression can rob us of our motivation and we stagnate. It is a difficult cycle as lack of motivation keeps us from completing tasks, which equates to failure to most people. This failure, in turn, causes people to have even less self-esteem. In order to prevent this, a motivation strategy must be implemented to achieve motivation success. It can be done, but it takes work. It is also important to recognize and overcome some common motivation killers.
Depression is a major motivation killer. People who are depressed will experience a significant decrease in motivation. In order to combat this it may be necessary for the person to use medication therapy to treat the depression. Depression may cause the person to experience a lack of desire to even get out of bed. It may be difficult for the person to leave the house or even to complete daily tasks. A motivation strategy to combat this is for the patient to first get a physical to make sure that the depression is not a symptom of an underlying, serious health condition, and then seek psychological counseling and possible medication therapy. Motivation success is possible if proper steps are taken to seek treatment.
Another condition that will rob a person of their motivation is insomnia and fatigue. Being sleepy all the time can distinctly impact daily motivation. Insomnia can cause excessive daytime sleepiness, or EDS, which can zap a person of their energy, thus destroying their motivation. When lack of motivation turns into failure on projects or daily tasks, a person’s self-esteem can be further robbed. He or she may feel like a complete failure and that frame of mind spills over onto other aspects of their life. Of course, treating the insomnia can have a dramatic affect to the person’s daily performance. In best-case scenario, motivation will return naturally. However, once the habit of procrastination and lack of motivation is set, it is difficult to break. Motivation success can be accomplished by time management and set time schedules to complete projects. It is important that a person be evaluated by a physician to ensure that the insomnia is not caused by a more serious health issue.
Perhaps the greatest robber of a person’s motivation is low self-confidence. Low self-esteem can cause a person to feel that they are unable to effectively complete projects or that if they try they will only fail. This is the most common barrier to a person’s motivation success. This goes far beyond just “sucking it up and moving on,” it becomes a physical inability to complete or sometimes even begin tasks. Sometimes the project may be too large or overwhelming or the person may lack the organizational skills necessary to be effectively self-motivated. This could range from cleaning a closet to working of a multi-million dollar project at work. All the talent in the world is useless if motivation is lacking. Organization is a good motivation strategy because it breaks down the task into parts that can be accomplished. Another motivation strategy it to set small goals over short periods of time. Try setting daily goals, weekly goals and monthly goals as well as long-term goals. Once you see that you can accomplish your daily goal, you will see that you are not a failure. Success feels good and it a great motivation booster.
Psychological counseling can help a person suffering from lack of motivation and low self-esteem. This is not the “head shrinker couch” that you see on TV. Those are exaggerated versions of counseling and you won’t likely have someone peer intently at you are ask repeatedly, “Now, how does that make you feel?” Instead, your therapist is likely to become a major player is increasing your self-esteem and motivation. Counseling can help you achieve motivation success. The counselor will walk you through exercises to increase your self-confidence which, in turn, will help your motivation increase. Additionally, the counselor can give you motivation strategies and if you follow the direction and work with the counselor, you will boost your self-confidence and achieve motivation success.
About the Author
Kevin Christopher is a member of Success University your online personal development and motivational courses faculty. For access to personal development and motivational courses online visit Success University to continue your learning and development.
