Motivation can be hard to come by. 

Sometimes it’s just seems to be another one of those days where it’s hard to get out of bed, get organized, out the door, and generally just get started. 

How does motivation work? 

Why does it sometimes lag? 

What can we do to encourage it?

Motivation is an internal compelling force to take action. Often it comes when you must change, because keeping things the same doesn’t serve you anymore. This inspiration to change, usually presents a reward that could be payment, a sense of accomplishment, recognition, or something else desired. Motivation also includes the inspiration to create, for there is something very rewarding about turning your dreams into reality. 

Motivation precedes all action. 

If motivation is present and needed before any change and action can come, why does it seem so hard to find?

These are a few reasons why:

• Spending time with negative, directionless, or unmotivated coworkers and friends will directly effect your own lack of inspiration.
  
• Feeling disempowered because of overbearing people/management, lack of oversight, not being included in decision-making, or very strict guidelines.
• Lacking a purpose or feeling excluded
  
• Living or working in a toxic environment of bullying, gossiping, and unfairness.

Here are a few steps to generate motivation:

Create realistic goals

Simply having direction may be enough to get started. Writing out a list of goals is the best way to organize yourself, your time, and especially to figure out what you want. And it’s important for these goals to be realistic and enjoyable otherwise you will not keep up with the work that may be required. 

Dedicate time
Setting aside a specific start time, and amount of time to work on something helps organize and prepare your mind to begin and maintain momentum.

Incentive
Incentive is an excellent stimuli to trigger us into action. A reward at the end gives us something to look forward to and the pleasure it entails.

Curiosity
Curiosity comes from within without any external prompting. It may be inspired by the tendency to seek out challenges, or to explore your capacity, or to simply learn something.

Progress monitoring
Keeping track of your actions and progress allows you to see how well you’re doing. Seeing the positive outcome is very rewarding and motivating to keep on the right track.

Staying motivated pushes you outside of your comfort zone, and sets you up for future opportunities. It allows you to feel creative, track and see your goals, and reap the rewards of your work. Motivation will always help you on a personal and professional level.

Stay motivated, my friends!