In any challenging exercise you have times when your motivation is low. This is just one more
challenge that you need to overcome to continue towards your goal. In this section, I explore
some topics that you may find helpful in identifying and resolving motivation issues.
Issues with goals and objectives, and internal conflicts, are a major cause of motivation
issues. Reviewing your own past performance can help. Other people can also be of great help.
They can give you feedback and guidance. They can also act as motivators, whether they know it
or not. Sometimes you may have some management issues to deal with, such as too much tracking,
too many distractions or too many outstanding issues. Lastly, I cover some other points that may
help.
Let's explore these topics.
Goals and objectives: Using internal and external motivators (eg reward and
punishment), goal relevance, goal difficulty, and inconsistencies.
Internal conflicts: Change anxiety, learning versus performance orientation, and risk
perception.
Learning performance: Getting feedback, affirming learning ability, and reviews of how far
you've come
Enrolling others to
help: Talking to other people, using consistency, helping others,
and using the importance of the goal as motivation (eg gung-ho "Important work" motivation).
Management aspects:
Too much tracking, distractions, other responsibilities, and issues.
Further points: Changing focus for a while, enjoying the journey, review further
references, and getting further help.
