Definitions Of Motivation

Definitions Of Motivation

Motivation is a powerful, but tricky beast. Sometimes it is really easy to get motivated, and you locate yourself wrapped up in a whirlwind of excitement.


Other times, it is nearly impossible to discern out how to motivate yourself and you're trapped in a demise spiral of procrastination.

This page contains the best thoughts and most useful research on how to get and stay motivated.

This isn't always going to be some rah-rah, pumped-up motivational speech. (That's not my style.) Instead, we're going to break down the science behind how to get encouraged in the first place and how to stay motivated for the long-run.

Whether you are trying to figure out how to motivate your self or how to motivate a team, this page should cowl everything you need to know.

Motivation: What It Is and How It Works

Scientists outline motivation as your general willingness to do something.

 It is the set of forces  psychological  that compel you to take action. That's nice and all, but I suppose we can come up with a more useful definition of motivation.

What is Motivation?

So what is motivation, exactly? The author Steven Pressfield has a tremendous line in his book, The War of Art, which I think gets at the core of motivation.

To paraphrase Pressfield, At some point, the pain of now not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.

In different words, at some point, it is easier to change than to stay the same.

It is simpler to take action and feel insecure at the gym than to take a seat still and experience self-loathing on the couch.

It is easier to experience awkward while making the sales call than to experience disappointed about your dwindling bank account.

This, I think, is the essence of motivation. Every choice has a price, however when we are motivated, it is easier to bear the inconvenience of action than the ache of remaining the same.

Some how we go a mental threshold usually after weeks of procrastination and in the face of an impending deadline and it turns into greater painful to not do the work than to actually do it.

Now for the vital question: What can we do to make it more likely that we cross this intellectual threshold and feel motivated on a consistent basis?

Common Misconceptions About Motivation

One of the most stunning things about motivation is that it often comes after starting a new behavior, no longer before.

We have this frequent  misconception  that motivation arrives as a result of passively eating a motivational video or studying an inspirational book. However, active inspiration can be a a ways more powerful motivator.

Motivation is often the end result of action, not the cause of it. Getting started, even in very small ways, is a form of energetic inspiration that naturally produces momentum.

I like to refer to this effect as the Physics of Productivity because this is essentially Newton’s First Law applied to habit formation: Objects in motion have a tendency to stay in motion. Once a task has begun, it is easier to proceed moving it forward.

You do not need much motivation once you've got started a behavior.

Nearly all of the friction in a project is at the beginning. After you start, progress takes place more naturally.

In other words, it is often less difficult to finish a task than it was to begin it in the first place.

Before we talk about how to get started, let's pause for simply a second. If you're enjoying this article on motivation, then you'll probable find my other writing on performance and human conduct useful.

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How to Get Motivated and Take Action

Many human beings struggle to find the motivation they need to obtain the goals they want because they are losing too much time and energy on other components of the process.

 If you want to make it easy to find motivation and get started, then it helps to automate the early levels of your behavior.

Schedule Your Motivation

During a conversation about writing, my friend Sarah Peck looked at me and said, A lot of humans never get around to writing because they are constantly wondering when they are going to write next.

You could say the same issue about working out, starting a business, creating art, and building most habits.

If your exercising doesn’t have a time when it usually occurs, then each day you’ll wake up thinking, I hope I feel influenced to exercise today.

If your business doesn’t have a system for marketing, then you’ll exhibit up at work crossing your fingers that you’ll find a way to get the word out (in addition to everything else you have to do).

If you don’t have a scheduled time when you write each and every week, then you’ll find yourself saying matters like.

An article in The Guardian summarized the situation by saying, If you waste resources attempting to decide when or where to work, you’ll impede your capability to do the work.

Setting a schedule for yourself seems simple, however it puts your decision-making on autopilot by giving your goals a time and a location to live.


It makes it more likely that you will follow via regardless of your motivation levels. And there are plenty of research studies on self-discipline and motivation to back up that statement.

This is the difference between professionals and amateurs. Professionals set a schedule and stick to it. Amateurs wait till they feel inspired or motivated.

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