“The best motivation is self-motivation.” – John C. Maxwell
Being self-motivated makes you more valuable; it saves time, causes you to be more productive and builds your self-esteem. If you wait for others to motivate you, you’ll be spending most of your life day dreaming and hoping for something to happen.
People who are always hoping for some external motivation are the same people who are left stranded at the bus stop marked “opportunity,” they could have easily gotten on that bus themselves instead of wishing they were like those passengers with a window seat.
Motivation supplies the drive that keeps us pursuing our objectives. Motivation fuels our determination to accomplish things, thus increasing productivity. Author Jo Owen says, “Mindset separates the best from the rest: the right mindset drives the right habits, which drive the right performance.”
Achievers know that motivation comes from two sources internally and externally. We are motivated by what’s important to us, as well as things that we feel strongly about, relying on internal motivation gives us an advantage over those who wait to be moved upon by outside forces before doing things.
Good leaders are self-motivating; they don’t depend on external forces to get them going, being self-motivated keeps their drive consistent.
How is Motivation Generated?
The answer is dopamine, according to WebMD, “Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter. Your body makes it, and your nervous system uses it to send messages between nerve cells. That’s why it’s sometimes called a chemical messenger.
Dopamine plays a role in how we feel pleasure. It’s a big part of our unique human ability to think and plan. It helps us strive, focus, and find things interesting.
It affects many parts of your behavior and physical functions, such as:
Learning, Motivation, Heart rate, Blood vessel function, Kidney function, Lactation, Sleep, Mood, Attention, Control of nausea and vomiting, Pain processing, and Movement.” (1)
Dopamine automatically functions behind the scenes, and we feel its impact in mind and body, we’re most familiar with its encouraging us to accomplish something positive or avoid something negative.
Intentionally Motivated to Accomplish Your Vision
“Vision gives you a reason to get up in the morning.” – Andy Stanley
A great vision is motivating and inspiring, connecting with an inspiring vision, energizes your mind, and stirs you emotionally. Since dopamine is behind our ability to think and plan, we depend on it for developing our visions and objectives. Here are four thoughts to help you generate motivation;
1. Revisit Your Wins We all have a to-do list, and it feels good when we check another item off it, imagine the motivation generated by having a well-done list. Revisiting your wins allows you to see and feel your progress, I’m always motivated thinking through past successes.
2. Graciously Give and Receive Compliments
Catch people doing something good and praise them for it. Develop the habit of welcoming and supplying positive feedback for jobs well done; it’s a great team builder. Sincere, positive affirmations build your confidence, which increases your levels of dopamine. It’s an easy motivator.
3. Take Full Responsibility for Your Life. I’m sure you’ll agree that taking responsibility for your wins is motivating. Do you know that taking responsibility for your failures is empowering? When you remove the emotional attachments to your failures and study them to uncover the “why,” you understand how to avoid repeating them, making you a victor instead of a victim of your circumstances. You will be adding value to everyone you share your discoveries with, now that’s motivating.
4. Stay Focused Staying focused on completing a task before moving on to the next enables you to accomplish more. Maintaining focus helps you develop a rhythm that keeps you motivated. That great feeling you get at the end of a productive day is due to the increase of dopamine. Intentionally staying focused on producing intended outcomes becomes a self-motivating cycle.
“I like accomplishing great things, and the feelings that come with achieve them.” - JSP
(1) WebMDWhat is Dopamine? https://wb.md/2ECapN1