3 ways to get powerful motivation to succeed

Note: This article is from Coach Ravi Raman, who talks about motivation as a key element for positive change in life.

Because after 14 years of working in the company that I love, I had a wonderful career, but I could not ignore my desire to travel the world, and I knew that the more I delayed doing this thing, the more I wanted to do it.

My motivation was clear, and I spent a year thinking deeply about my decision. I also thought about other times in my life when I had to make difficult decisions, feel motivated, and maintain that feeling for long periods of time, starting with training and competing in sports and ending with participation in the Ultramarathon.

I have read a lot of books and studies about what it takes to be motivated and keep that feeling, and what I have learned is that motivation is not just a spiritual art and not just an amazing science; it is a practical and doable thing that can also be studied, measured, quantified, and applied daily, which helps to make better decisions and also helps to commit to achieving goals and qualitative achievements in life.

What is motivation?

Motivation or lack of motivation is what leads to success or failure, whether for organizations or individuals. I have many friends who seem to do things naturally to improve their lives, and I know many organizations that have employees who are always passionate about their work and achieving the organization’s goals.

And the question is: What makes some of us so motivated and some so lacking in motivation? And what makes some organizations eager to achieve great things, while others are only ambitious to maintain their status quo?

We will focus on these questions through this article and provide effective strategies that you can apply daily to motivate yourself and others to do great things.

Can motivation be acquired, or is it a talent?

The view of motivation changes greatly from being just a feeling to something that can be studied, learned, and applied. In the past, motivation was understood as a metaphysical quality associated with the individual's personality, which translates into a strong will. Anything that fate gives you can change your destiny, but the cool truth is that motivation is more of a science than an art.

It is like the evolution of the concept of medicine. In the past, medicine was seen as an art that could only be practiced by people with a special spiritual gift, and of course, this idea seems absurd today. As we said, motivation is increasingly understood as something that can be studied, learned, and applied by anyone who is determined and patient enough to learn and apply some core principles. It also considers whether your motivation comes from your inner feelings or whether it is related to external circumstances.

3 Basic ways to increase your motivation

There are three basic ways to increase your motivation based on the ideas and research of eminent scientists in the field of psychology, as well as my experience in making difficult decisions and committing to the goals that I set.

I will summarize these three methods and provide some ideas for their practical application:

1. Independence in decision-making

University of Rochester psychologists Edward L. Deci and Richard M. Ryan argue that people gain motivation when they feel responsible.

They conducted an experiment to test this hypothesis and found that people spend more time trying to solve a problem when they work in a field they love than when they are forced to do something.

And the two scientists proved that until you feel motivated, it is required that you work on a task that makes you feel responsible, and you should not feel obligated to work in any way; rather, you must feel that what you are doing stems from your desire and complete free will.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself:

• Do you genuinely want to accomplish the decision, objective, or project you're working on, or did you feel forced to?
• If you feel forced, can you modify your work or what you do so that you feel it is a matter of your personal choice?
• If you cannot change what you do, what can you do to feel more responsible about your work?

2. Value

Motivation gives you a very powerful boost when you act according to your core beliefs and values, and it makes sense; for example, it is difficult to defend a case that you do not believe in, and it is very important to note that your appreciation for something increases the likelihood of seeking to achieve it with a greater sense of responsibility; in other words, there is a close relationship between feeling responsible and feeling important in what you do.

In a review of several studies conducted by psychologists Allen Wigfield and Jennifer Cambria from the University of Maryland, the two scientists noticed a relationship between the student's love for a subject and their desire to find an answer to a question related to this subject in an independent way.

For example, if a student feels a high appreciation for the importance of a particular subject such as mathematics, they will have a greater desire to focus and solve math problems in their own way, without the need for encouragement from parents or teachers.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• What do you value in life, work, or in relation to family?
• How can you relate your goals and major projects to these values?
• How can you reshape your goals or projects so that you become more aligned with your core values and with the things of great value in your life?

3. Efficiency

Motivation increases with an increase in efficiency and mastery of the skill. Carol S. Dweck, a psychologist, has observed through research that a person is more willing to persevere on a task when they know that their hard work will pay off.

And the same idea is emphasized in the book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, that efficiency does not mean complete mastery of a skill; it means that a person feels that they have sufficient knowledge and that they are making progress equal to the effort they are making.

It is possible to be a beginner and yet have efficiency, and you can increase your confidence in your efficiency through hard work and tireless follow-up to achieve the goal.

I saw this fact myself when I decided to ski in the Alps; so in the beginning, I took two lessons of two hours each and worked hard for two days to test my newly learned skills; and in the end, I was confident in my ability as a skier; and of course, I couldn't skate like a professional, but I was confident in myself and felt I had enough skill.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• What areas are you efficient in?
• How can you invest your efficiency in order to achieve your goals?
• Can you gain more confidence in your efficiency by following better habits or developing a skill?
• How can you keep track of progress as your efforts lead to better results and contribute to goal achievement?

In the end

In short, being motivated comes down to the following three basic elements:

1. Take responsibility for your own decisions (independence).
2. Appreciate the importance of what you (value).
3. Increasing motivation with increasing skill and experience (efficiency).

When you review your goals and projects, take some time and think about each goal and project you have, and make sure you feel the responsibility and importance of what you do and your confidence in the efficiency that you have. If you feel that you lack one of these three elements, then use the questions in this article in order to process the weaknesses in these elements.

Motivation helps you commit to achieving your goals and qualitative achievements in your life, and it may be useful to write down your answers to the questions you ask yourself and then read these answers for yourself. Reading your answers from time to time will also help you to have strong ideas that make you motivated in the long run.