Keep it up—deal with motivation issues#

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 (such as reward and punishment), checking whether your goal appears too difficult or too easy, goal relevance, and reviewing goals for inconsistencies.

Internal conflicts #

Three common internal conflicts: anxiety due to change, awareness of risk and fear, and the tension between a learning orientation and a performance orientation.

Learning performance #

Getting feedback on your progress, affirming your natural ability to learn, and looking at how far you have already come as a motivator to keep going.

Enrolling others to help #

Five ways other people can help your motivation: talking to other people, using self-inflicted consistency, helping others reach their goals, and understanding how your activity affects the people around you.

Management aspects #

Checking whether you spend too much time tracking progress rather than making it, managing distractions and other responsibilities, and using issue management techniques to write down and address problems.

Further points #

Changing focus for a while, finding small ways to enjoy the journey, reviewing further references on motivation, and getting trained help when needed.