Motivation
Hello my dear friend, Have you ever wondered why some days you feel like you can conquer the world and other days just getting ready for the day is more than you feel you can do? What is it that affects our motivation? First of all, what exactly is motivation? Motivation is the force that drives our decisions and influences our behavior. It does not always come naturally and often has to be nourished to grow. There are two types of motivation; intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic is driven from inside us, things that we enjoy and give us personal satisfaction. Extrinsic is being motivated from something external like praise or money. Dopamine, one of our neurotransmitters which is commonly associated with pleasure, highly influences motivation. It helps your brain analyze the cost/benefit of a task and determine whether it is worth doing. Reasons you may not be motivated: *Anxiety *Burnout *Depression *Low self-esteem *Not enough sleep *Stress How to motivate yourself: Set goals. The author of this article uses the acronym SMART to describe a set of actions to consider when working towards a goal. S– Specific: The who, what, when, why and how have been clearly defined. M– Measurable: The goal can be measured. A– Attainable: The goal is not too far out of reach. R– Realistic: The goal can be achieved. T– Time-related: There is a timeframe to finish this goal. Celebrate all the small successes. We need to celebrate throughout the process, not just at the completion. Every little success counts! It is so important to recognize and celebrate once we have completed the goal, not just go on to the next one. Setting goals with a friend increases success as well as having an accountability and a celebration partner! Have fun being and keeping yourself motivated. There needs to be more shortcake than S*#T in life. Keep the strawberries and whipping cream coming. The more you enjoy what you are doing, the easier it is to keep doing it. Thank you Laura Dan for this great information about motivation. With much love and gratitude to you! Janalee |