What is Motivation? Why It is Important and How to Get It

So, what exactly is motivation? We often heard people talk about motivation, but have you ever thought about what it is and how it can affect your life and everything you do? In this article, we’re going to discuss motivation, why it is important, and how you can get the motivation you want to achieve success in life.

According to PositivePsychology.com, motivation is an internal process that drives us to change. It affects our behavior in doing something.

To make things simple, motivation is the desire or the need to act or to do something.

The essence of motivation is intentional behavior that is energized. When you are motivated, you move and take action. As simple as that.

Motivation to You and Me

Motivation itself is a huge topic. But I really don’t want to talk about the psychology behind it. I believe in making things simple so that everyone can understand and make good use of the info.

Hence, we’re going to discuss motivation in layman terms. Motivation plays a huge part in our daily life.

Basically, motivation describes why we do what we do.

For example, why are you reading this article right now? Here are a couple of reasons:

• You’re reading this for fun.
• You’re reading this because you need to do research on your school’s paper.
• You’re reading this article to hope that you can understand more about motivation.
• You want to learn how to get motivated.

No matter is the reason behind, there is a “why”. And motivation is the “why” behind human behaviors.

The Two Forces that Determine Your Motivation

There are always two sides to everything. And the same goes for motivation.

Why do people do what they do and why do people choose to not do it?

There are two forces that govern your level of motivation: pain and pleasure.

One force is the going-forward force that pushes you to act, while another force is the away-from force that pulls you NOT to act.

For example, you know that reading is important. And at one point, you’re motivated to read. But there is also force telling you not to read because it’s boring and there’s something better to do, like binge YouTube or playing games.

Well, depending on which force is stronger, you will navigate toward it.

This is why some people take action while others choose to procrastinate.

When you have a goal, and when your motivation to act is strong, you will execute on your plan to reach your goals.

But when the away-from force or the pain is stronger than your motivation to act, you will procrastinate, delay the work, or choose to do something else.

You also want to read this article below to find out what truly motivates you:

What Motivates You In Life? The 6 Common Factors That Drive People

Types of Motivation

Do you know that there are 2 types of motivation? One is the intrinsic motivation where the drives come from within you. And another is the extrinsic motivation, where the drives come from the outside of you.

Read: What is Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation and How to Get More of Them

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is the motivation that comes from deep within you. For instance, if you compete in sports to win because you want to prove to yourself that you can do it, it is a kind of intrinsic motivation.

On the contrary, if you compete because you want to win the prize, that’s extrinsic motivation.

Here are some additional resources to help you understand better about intrinsic motivation:

• 7 Most Common Examples of Intrinsic Motivation that Drive You
• 7 Great Ways How to Increase Your Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is the drive that pulls you from the outside. Money, fame, power, luxury cars, and houses, etc., are considered extrinsic motivation.

In my previous article, I shared a couple of external rewards that common drive people to act:

• We train and work hard to compete in sports for trophies and prizes.
• We buy things to satisfy our desire and need.
• Most sales jobs are extrinsically rewarded with commissions.
• When you buy something because of discounts or buy-one-get-one-free promotion.

Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are important.

The key is to learn how to make use of these two types of motivation to empower us and help us achieve our goals and the things that we want in life.

The Importance of Motivation

Motivation is important, why? It’s simple, you do things because of motivation.

If you have goals to achieve, you need the motivation to work on them. People who lack motivation often find it hard to stick to their plans.

And when they don’t feel motivated, they tend to procrastinate or choose to not do the work at all. This is why we need motivation in everything we do.

Here are 7 reasons why motivation is important to us:

1. Motivation increases your effort.
2. Motivation boosts your productivity.
3. Motivation helps you go against all odds and see the possibilities.
4. Motivation can influence others through inspiration.
5. Motivation builds your habits.
6. Motivation makes the process and journey fun.
7. Motivation gets you to your goals and dreams.

Without motivation, you can’t really be successful.

Successful people are successful because they know how to manage their motivations well.

It is true that we can’t rely solely on motivation, but motivation is the starting point of all success.

This is why you need to learn how to master your motivation so that you will take action even when you don’t feel motivated to act.

And if you always find yourself having no motivation, read this: Why Do You Have No Motivation? 10 Common Reasons and Solutions

How to Motivate Yourself

Now that you understand what motivation is and why it is important, it is time to learn how you can motivate yourself.

Just imagine if you have mastered it and know how you can motivate yourself when you’re in a slump, do you know how much more you can accomplish in your life?

This is motivation is vital to our success.

Here are 5 ways how you can motivate yourself to take action:

1. Create a strong purpose

As we have learned, motivation is actually the reason behind what you do. Therefore, if you have a strong and emotional purpose for the things you want, your motivation will be stronger.

Think about a time when you are absolutely motivated to do something, why? Well, it is because when something becomes a must-achieve to you, you will do whatever it takes to make it happen.

This is why having a strong purpose/reason is important. Thus, ask yourself, why do you want to achieve your goals or do what you do?

If your goal is to build a 7-figure business, why is that important to you? Remember, your reason is the fuel that drives you.

Read: Why Clarity of Purpose is Important to Success and How to Get It

Action Step:

Take a piece of paper and write down why you want to achieve your goals and dreams. Why do you want to do what you do? Write down your purpose and your reason. Reread your reasons a couple of times and make sure they are strong enough to push you into taking action. Whenever you’re down or feel no motivation, review your reasons again.

2. Make it really easy to start

When things are easy to do, you don’t need that much motivation. The point is that you want to make things easy to start so that you will take action and build up the momentum.

Writing this article is not easy, but I choose to write paragraphs by paragraphs. The more I write, the more motivated I feel. Action creates motivation.

Just like if you want to exercise, you don’t have to commit to a 2-hour workout plan. You just need to make it easy to start. Commit to doing just 20 push-ups to get things rolling.

Once you are on the move, you will gain the momentum to even more action.

Read: Why Start Small? The 5 Important Benefits of Starting Small

Action Step:

You want to lower the resistance by scaling down the action step. Make it so easy that you will do the work without needing much motivation. This is why I always suggest you start small. Hence, find out what you need to do, and then commit to taking just one small step.

3. Build up your commitment and accountability

Commitment and accountability are important. Dr. Gail Matthews discovered that when people share their goals and progress with someone else, the chances of reaching their goals tend to increase.

This is why we need an accountability partner. Don’t just keep everything to yourself. You want to have someone else check on your progress so that you will feel a little bit stressful to work on your goals.

However, make sure that you choose the right accountability partner. Choose someone who supports you and is encouraging.

Check out my masterclass, Goal Setting Formula to learn how to set empowering goals and achieve them.

Action Step:

Share your goals and your progress with someone who will support you. When you do so, you are putting yourself on the line because you have just made a public commitment to what you’re going to accomplish. Get an accountability partner to check on your progress on a weekly basis. Once you do so, you will never procrastinate again.

4. Set up a reward for taking action

Previously, we talked about extrinsic motivation. And this is where you can make good use of it – by giving a great reward for completing your task.

Every time after you took action, celebrate and reward yourself. You want to make your reward as exciting as possible so that you can’t wait to take action.

Think about the day before you went on a vacation in another country. How do you feel? Exciting and you can’t even sleep the night before, right?

This is the kind of excitement you want to create from your reward.

I love reading and playing games. Thus, sometimes I will use these as rewards to motivate me to take action. After I have accomplished my task, I give myself 30 minutes off to do the things that I love doing.

Read: How to Reward Yourself for Your Hard Work and Effort

Action Step:

Find out what rewards you love and how you can use them to drive you into taking action. You want to use the power of the external factors to motivate you. One more important thing to remember is to always celebrate your wins. You want to make yourself feel good because you have made progress. So, find out the exciting rewards that drive you, and celebrate your victories.

5. Imagine the success you desire and focus on the positive

Do you know that we become who we think about most of the time? Successful people are successful because they choose to take action even when they don’t feel like it. How do they do that?

Well, focus on the positive. Choose to think about rewards and success, not the problems, obstacles, or how boring the task is.

“Failure defeats losers. Failure inspires winners.”

Robert T. Kiyosaki

You see, when you focus on the problems, you will feel lethargic and you will lose your motivation. But if you focus on the rewards and your goals, you will be inspired to take action.

We are always given 2 choices, either we choose to motivate ourselves, or we can choose to be miserable.

Whatever has to be done, it’s our choice.

Hence, choose to focus on success and only think about the positive.

Read: Success Mindset: 13 Thinking You Should Adopt to Succeed in Life

Action Step:

Every time when you lack motivation or you don’t feel like taking action, focus and imagine the success or the goals that you want. See yourself achieving your goals, living your dream life, and are enjoying the rewards of your hard work. Visualize it vividly and feel the sense of accomplishment in you. And the motivation will come.

Conclusion

Like it or not, we all need motivation in life, especially if you want to achieve extraordinary results.

But most people choose to let their circumstances govern their lives than to learn how to master their motivation and take control of their lives.

Thus, I suggest you learn as much as possible to master yourself as much as your motivation. Check out these additional resources that can help you:

• 7 Motivational Habits That Drive Highly Successful People
• 15 Tips to Quickly Increase Your Motivation for Higher Performance
• Goldilocks Principle: How to Raise Your Motivation and Focus
• 10 Best Motivational Books to Kickstart and Drive Your Morning