As I mentioned, many issues with motivation come back to your overall goals and objectives. You can overcome almost any challenge if you want to, and it’s easier if you believe your goal is worthwhile, achievable and relevant to you. Here are some points to check:
· Use internal motivators. Internal motivators, such as a belief in a goal, often motivate better than external motivators, such as rewards and punishments. Are external rewards driving you? Are you trying to avoid a negative outcome or punishment? If so, try to find some internal motivators. Find some personal reasons for doing what you are doing. Look at some of the potential self-development objectives outlined in the planning step of the Memletic Approach.
· Check if the objective appears too difficult. Motivation difficulties often come because an objective you have set yourself turns out to be more difficult than you expect. Review your reasons behind your overall goal and whether any of them have changed. Can you split your objective into smaller objectives that may be easier to achieve?
· Check if the objective is too easy. Sometimes it’s difficult to motivate yourself when an objective is too easy. This can be even more of a challenge if the objective still takes a long time to complete. Again consider your goal. If you need to complete this objective to achieve your overall goal, it’s still important to finish it. Try to find other reasons to achieve this objective, for example add some self-development objectives to increase the challenge. What else can you learn from the experience?
· Review your goals and objectives. Review some of the points you wrote during the targeting and planning steps. Has anything changed? Often a source of low motivation is you no longer believe your goal takes you in the direction you want to go, or it just seems just too far away. Take some time to review your goals and make sure you are happy with the direction you are going. Read (or create) your goal scripts again. Perhaps review the images you may have collected (see the Memletic State chapter).