Personal Development Motivation

Motivation is one of the keys to success. With it, we can take on dreams and overcome obstacles and get things done. Without it we end up with unfulfilled desires and hopes.

Want to start exercising? Want to give up smoking? Want to write a book? Motivation is the key to our success or lack thereof.

There are only two kinds of motivation when you get right down to it. Only two ways to motivate yourself that make a difference. Positive and negative.

We all know about negative motivation. If you don’t take out the trash, it will start to smell. So we take out the trash to avoid the negative consequence of a smelly house. If we don’t go to work we’ll lose our job, and then we can’t pay the rent and then we are homeless. The negative consequences motivate us to go to work.

We were all raised with negative motivation. Avoiding the threat of something bad happening to us. If you don’t do your homework, you’ll fail your classes and get in trouble. It perhaps got us to do our homework, but negative motivation is just that, negative. It is deflating. We grumble and moan as we do our homework or go to work because we “have to.”

Positive motivation is the opposite of negative. Instead of trying to avoid a negative consequence, we are trying to accomplish a positive outcome. That changes everything. You may, for example, hate to get up at 4am to go to work. You grumble all the way in. But what if you are going to Hawaii and need to get up at 4am to catch your flight? You will hop out of bed humming a happy tune. You are positively motivated and energized by the result you are after.

The thing is, you can start to practice being positively motivated as much as you want in life. Just think of the positive result you are after from an exercise program for a few minutes. Then see if that doesn’t start filling you with the desire to get started.

Taking action is the key. You can take negative action, grumbling and groaning all the way, or positive action, with a spring in your step. It’s up to you. Try more positive motivation, focusing on the good outcome or fun parts of any task, and see if it doesn’t help you take more positive action.