Other people can help your motivation in many ways, whether they realize it or not. Here are five ways you can enroll others to help your motivation:
· Talk to other people. This can often be your number one weapon against low motivation. Other people can often offer invaluable insights into your current challenges. You may want to explain your issues, or simply ask them about a time when they were suffering from low motivation. Ask them how they improved their motivation. Be sure to pick your confidants carefully though. Avoid those who may prefer to see you fail in your efforts.
· Use self-inflicted consistency. Consistency in this case refers to the principle that you often act according to the image you want others to hold of you. You can use this principle to motivate yourself by telling as many people as you can about your goal. Tell your best friends as well as your worst enemies. They can both become your support team. Your best friends usually support your activities with encouragement. Your enemies may wish to see you fail, and in doing so they can motivate you to prove them wrong. Either way, you have set an expectation with others that you will succeed. You often go further than you otherwise would to prove that expectation.
· Help others. One way to help you stay motivated is to help other people reach their goals. The opportunity to “make a difference” in the lives of others, whether an individual or a whole community, often provokes unprecedented levels of involvement and participation. You can often find small ways to contribute. It may be helping a student along who is further behind you, or writing some notes that others can use later. Helping others can help keep you motivated, and at the same time perhaps reinforce material you’ve already learned.
· Understand how your activity affects others. Consider how your learning activities affect, or will affect, other people. While you are learning, you are likely helping an instructor, author, coach or teacher make a living. You may also be supporting companies that provide you with equipment, as well as all the people who work for those companies. If you are in a class, you help others understand content through the questions you ask and the discussions you have. Most learning activities have a positive effect on many other people, not just you. Use this thought as another way to motivate yourself. Striving to reach your goal helps other people reach theirs.