Angie Clever

Ok, I bet you can guess who says this, “Dwell on the could haves, we must not. Focus on the solution, we must.” You got it, straight from the wise master and teacher of the Jedi (Thank you, George Lucas). Ongoing motivation in work, school, relationships—in life—is hard to attain, but most people wish for it. How much more could you really be accomplishing? Do you ever find yourself on a slow day, just surfing the internet-30 minutes fly by- checking your email- there’s another 30 minutes (you had to check work and personal accounts)- then you write an email or two, and look something else up online. I always said that my computer was secretly a time machine, I sit in front of it and my time disappears. To make your time stop disappearing you have to understand the concepts behind motivation, you have to find out what’s driving you.

Basic Ideas of Motivation (Dog Training 101)

Everyone needs something to get them motivated, to prove that its worth you time to get up and do it. For the most part, what you’ve heard and understand about motivation falls under what’s known as “the carrot” and “the stick” principle.

• The Carrot – Is something that feels good, a positive motivation (think giving a dog a treat to perform a task). Often we view money as the ultimate carrot. A positive stimulation is only as good as what you believe it is, and ultimately what motivates me may not motivate you. The carrot has to be something meaningful to the individual, with enough value to say this carrot (money?) is worth me trading (maybe free time?). The value you are getting must outweigh what you are giving up.
• The Stick – Is the opposite. The stick poses a threat to something you value, your “security”. In an employment situation, the stick could be the threat of losing your job. The stick is something outside of your control, to which you must respond. The effects of a stick are always motivating, but the direction of motivation depends on the individual. In the case of the threat of job loss, an employee may improve to meet and overcome the threat to his security, but he also may actually get worse as he pours effort into finding a new job.

The problem is that this almost inevitable provides a circular logic. By the time you take into account what motivates each individual, and how he will respond, you are defining the carrot as what motivates and individual. How useful is a definition of a motivator as what motivates you?

Carrots Grow in the Grocery Store: Pop Culture’s Lack of Motivation

Many self help experts agree that our motivators are pleasure and pain, and in a primitive way they are right. When survival is on the line, it comes down to pleasure and pain. The need to eat: pleasure. The need for shelter: pleasure. Fear of being eaten: pain. Fear of exposure to the elements: pain. Pretty straight forward right?

Now let’s flash forward into our society. Carrots grow in the grocery store, in fact most people have never had to scavenge for food or hunt. Modern society provides a buffer zone between you and those big threats to your security, like death and hunger. Whether real or not, you were raised with the idea that you are “safe”. Legislation, school systems, communities, commercialized diet plans, pre-packages foods—they all contribute to a feeling of safety, removing the big “sticks”.

You are left with only the small “sticks”. You may lose your job, but you have an unemployment buffer. If that doesn’t work out, then there are social outreach programs.

Motivation Plateaus

People tend to reach a plateau of motivation. This can be the most frustrating and emotionally draining place to be. By nature we as human beings respond to stimulus, we are motivated to take actions to aid our survival. When survival is assures we are faced with a string of non-critical needs. Non-critical needs such as, I need to lose weight. I need to spend more time on my hobbies. I need to make more money.

If you were facing certain death next week if you didn’t lose 5 pounds, how would that effect your motivation? You bet you’d jump up and run to the gym and work out like a mad person. Your stick would be way bigger.

Now, if you were going to get a million dollars if you lost 5 pounds in a week, what would you do? Well, assuming that the million is worth something to you, you’d probably jump up too. (Why do you think reality TV works?)

In the real world, you should lose weight for your health and so that you would have more energy. As it is you have enough energy and are fairly healthy. Whether true or not, your mind has set a higher value to sitting on the couch (sitting=rest, mental relaxation) than weight loss (already healthy, what value does it have?).

Fear and Passion: Dark and Light of Motivation

The way I figure it, it is a little bit different than dog training (so maybe we shouldn’t simplify it to a carrot and a stick), so let’s go back to Star Wars. There are two main motivators, those driven by passion and those driven by fear.

Goals of Passion: Improve the world around you Give a better life to your children Build something meaningful Improve your quality of life Apply your creativity

Goals of Fear Be famous Make a lot of money to fulfill ambitions Be respected Be powerful, and/or in control Be perceived as intelligent

The real difference between the two is that one is outward and one is inward. Those driven by fears want to affect the world, and their motivations (their carrots and sticks) stem from external sources. Those motivated by passion are affected more by internal stimuli, and tend to be motivated by internal desires. Think of fear as the “Dark side” of motivators and Passion as the “Light side”. We all have some combination of both. Ask which is motivating you.

Change “Need to” to “Want to”

We’re all driven by fears and passions. We know the results we want. Back to the weight loss example. You perceive the need to lose weight, but you will not die nor will you significantly change your lifestyle by losing weight, so its easy to procrastinate. Let’s change that. You are defining weight loss as a need, to be specific a “non-critical” need. It becomes easy to procrastinate, in fact you have the feeling of being forced into it- you automatically feel a sense of rebellion.

Remember that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. There may be consequences for things you do not do, but ultimately in your life there is no one making you do anything. It is your choice to keep a diet, stay at a job, not focus on your hobbies, or anything else you do or do not do. You are free to choose, and now that you have reminded yourself, ask yourself why you want to do what you’re doing, what exactly do you have to gain?

You Have the Freedom to Choose

Procrastinating on something you choose freely to do is not likely. Not that you’ve admitted that this is your choice, don’t’ work yourself up thinking about the whole of the task. Take small steps, make a plan. The surest way to keep procrastinating is to become overwhelmed by a task.

  Make Time for Your Life First, Then Plan

Make time for your life first. Your plan should be only a part of your life, something additive. Make sure you are not forced to give up the things you value (time with your family, relationships, ect.) to make it happen. Setting up a plan that leaves you with mental images of long, dark, lonely hours is setting yourself up to fail.

In our weight loss example for instance what sound more appealing, long dark lonely hours in a gym every night, or a plan to bring a few friends to the gym after work with you and have dinner afterwards. Incorporate something fun, you want to do this- so make it something that you want to do. Setting up a plan that you dread is setting up yourself for failure.

I hope this article helps you understand your motivations a little more clearly, and helps you understand to make plans around your life, not life around your plans. It’s a sure fired way to beat procrastination and achieve those goals you’ve been setting.