Factors in Self-Motivation

Self-motivation is complex. It's linked to your level of initiative in setting challenging

goals for yourself; your belief that you have the skills and abilities needed to achieve
those goals; and your expectation that if you put in enough hard work, you will succeed
(or at least be in the running, if it's a competitive situation).

Four factors are necessary to build the strongest levels of self-motivation:

1. Self-confidence and self-efficacy.

2. Positive thinking, and positive thinking about the future.

3. Focus and strong goals.

4. A motivating environment.

By working on all of these together, you should quickly improve your self-motivation.
Let's look at each of these factors individually.

1. Self-Confidence and Self-Efficacy

(Questions 1, 2, 6, 8)

Part of being self-motivated is having good levels of self-assurance, self-confidence, and self-
efficacy. More on these below!

Being highly self-assured means you will set challenging goals for yourself, and it's also a
resiliency factor for when you encounter setbacks. If you don't believe in yourself you'll be much
more likely to think, "I knew I couldn't do this" instead of, "This one failure isn't going to stop
me!"
Albert Bandura, a psychologist from Stanford University, defined self-efficacy as a belief in our
own ability to succeed, and our ability to achieve the goals we set for ourselves. This belief has a
huge impact on your approach to goal setting and your behavioral choices as you work toward
those goals.
According to Bandura's research, high self-efficacy results in an ability to view difficult goals as
a challenge, whereas people with low self-efficacy would likely view the same goals as being
beyond their abilities, and might not even attempt to achieve them.

It also contributes to how much effort a person puts into a goal in the first place, and how much
he or she perseveres despite setbacks.
By developing a general level of self-confidence in yourself, you will not only believe you can
succeed, but you'll also recognize and enjoy the successes you've already had. That, in turn, will
inspire you to build on those successes. The momentum created by self-confidence is hard to
beat.
Take these steps:

 Think about the achievements in your life.

 Examine your strengths to understand what you can build on.

 Determine what other people see as your strengths and key capabilities.

 Set achievable goals for yourself, work to achieve them, and enjoy that achievement.

 Seek out mentors and other people who model the competencies, skills, and attributes you
desire.

As you begin to recognize how much you've already achieved – and understand how much
potential you have – you will have the confidence to set goals and achieve the things you desire.
The more you look for reasons to believe in yourself, the easier it will be to find ways to
motivate yourself.

Our article on Building Self-Confidence teaches you how to develop this self-confidence, and
gives you steps you can use to start feeling great about yourself. It will also put you firmly on the
path to self-assurance and self-efficacy.

2. Positive Thinking, and Positive Thinking about the Future

(Questions 4, 9, 11, 12)

Your life today is the result of your attitudes and choices in the past. Your life tomorrow will be
the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today.- Author Unknown
Positive thinking is closely related to self-confidence as a factor in self-motivation. It's important
to look at things positively, especially when things aren't going as planned and you're ready to
give up.

If you think that things are going to go wrong or that you won't succeed, this may influence
things in such a way that your predictions will come true. This is particularly the case if you need
to work hard to achieve success, or if you need to persuade others to support you in order to
succeed. Your thoughts can have a major influence on whether you succeed or fail, so make sure
those thoughts are "on your side."

Positive thinking also helps you think about an attractive future that you want to realize. When
you expect positive results, your choices will be more positive, and you'll be less likely to leave
outcomes to fate or chance. Having a vivid picture of success, combined with positive thinking,
helps you bridge the gap between wanting something and going out to get it.

To apply "the power of positive thinking", do the following:

 Become aware of your thoughts. Write down these down throughout the day.

 Challenge your negative thoughts, and replace them with positive ones.

 Create a strong and vivid picture of what it will be like to achieve your goals.

 Develop affirmations or statements that you can repeat to yourself throughout the day. These
statements should remind you of what you want to achieve, and why you will achieve it.

 Practice positive thinking until you automatically think about yourself and the world in a
positive way, every day.

3. Focus and Strong Goals

(Questions 3, 7)

As we've said above, a key part of building self-motivation is to start setting strong goals. These
give you focus, a clear sense of direction, and the self-confidence that comes from recognizing
your own achievement.

First, determine your direction through effective goal setting.

When you set a goal, you make a promise to yourself. Part of the strength of this is that it gives
you a clear direction. Part is that you've made this promise to yourself, and you'll want to keep
this promise. And part is that it's a challenge, and it's fun to try to meet that challenge!

But don't set just any goal. According to Locke's goal-setting theory , your goal should have the
following characteristics:
 Clarity - Effective goals are clear, measurable, specific, and based on behavior, not
outcomes.
 Challenge - Goals should be difficult enough to be interesting, but not so difficult that you
can't reach them.
 Commitment - Goals should be attainable, and should be relevant - that is, they should
contribute in a significant way to the major objectives you're trying to achieve.
 Regularity of Feedback - Monitor your progress towards your goals regularly to maintain
your sense of momentum and enthusiasm, and enjoy your progress towards those goals.
 Sufficient Respect For Complexity - If the goal involves complex work, make sure that you
don't over-commit yourself. Complex work can take an unpredictably long time to complete
(particularly if you have to learn how to do the task "on the job").
When you have a variety of goals, be sure to schedule your time and resources effectively. You
can achieve the "focus" part of self-motivation by prioritizing and establishing a schedule that
will help you succeed. It doesn't make sense to work until you're exhausted or give up one goal
to achieve another.

Using tools like Eisenhower's Urgent/Important Principle and the Action Priority Matrix ,
you can quickly and easily see how each goal activity fits into the bigger picture of your overall
objectives. If you fully understand your priorities, you probably won't feel as pressured to do
everything at once. This can reduce stress and help you to concentrate on the most important
strategies.
See our article on Prioritization for a summary, and for links to our top time management and
prioritization tools.

4. Motivating Environment

(Questions 5, 10)

The final thing to focus on is surrounding yourself with people and resources that will remind
you of your goals, and help you with your internal motivation. These are external factors – they'll
help you get motivated from the outside, which is different from the internal motivation we've
discussed so far. However, the more factors you have working for you, the better.

You can't just rely on these "environmental" or outside elements alone to motivate you, but you
can use them for extra support. Try the following:

 Look for team work opportunities. Working in a team makes you accountable to others.

 Ask your boss for specific targets and objectives to help you measure your success.

 Ask for interesting assignments. See our article on Maximizing Job Satisfaction for tips on
getting the most from your job.
 Set up some goals that you can easily achieve. Quick wins are great for getting you
motivated.

 Buddy up with people who you trust to be supportive, and ask them to help keep you
accountable.

 Try not to work by yourself too much. Balance the amount of time you work from home with
time spent working with others.
When you start your self- motivation program, you may tend to rely heavily on these external
factors. As you get more comfortable and confident with your self-motivation, you'll probably
use them only as needed, and for a little extra help.

Key Points
Self-motivation doesn't come naturally to everyone. And even those who are highly self-
motivated need some extra help every now and then.

Build your self-motivation by practicing goal-setting skills, and combining those with positive
thinking, the creation of powerful visions of success, and the building of high levels of self-
efficacy and self-confidence.

Your attitude and beliefs about your likelihood of success can predict whether or not you
actually succeed. Set goals, and work hard to achieve them. Examine ways to improve your self-
motivation, and regularly reassess your motivation levels. If you actively keep your internal
motivation high, you can significantly increase the likelihood of achieving your hopes, dreams,
and visions of the future.

Self motivation

Ability to do what needs to be done, without influence from other people or situations.
People with self motivation can find a reason and strength to complete a task, even
when challenging, without giving up or needing another to encourage them.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/self-motivation.html

Are you motivated to achieve what you really want in life?

And how hard do you push yourself to get things done?

Wanting to do something and motivating yourself to actually do it are two different

things.

So, what's the difference between those who never reach their goals, year after year,
and those who achieve one goal after another? Often, it's their self-motivation.
Self-motivation is the force that keeps pushing us to go on – it's our internal drive to
achieve, produce, develop, and keep moving forward. When you think you're ready to
quit something, or you just don't know how to start, your self-motivation is what pushes
you to go on.

With self-motivation, you'll learn and grow – regardless of the specific situation. That's
why it's such a fundamental tool for reaching your goals, achieving your dreams, and
succeeding, in this journey we call life.

So, how self-motivated are you? We've put together a short quiz to give you a better
understanding of how self-motivated you are. After the quiz, we'll discuss some specific
tips for improving your self-motivation, so that you can achieve still more in your life.

Keep Motivated
Finally, it is important to keep track of what you want to achieve and stay
motivated to do so. To keep your motivation levels up try to:

Learn and Acquire Knowledge

Read, study and talk to people – knowledge and information are key for feeding your mind and
keeping you curious and motivated. See our pages What is Learning?, Lifelong Learning and
our section: Study Skills for some tips on how to make your learning more effective.

Keep the Company of Enthusiastic People

Try to avoid negative people and seek out positive, well-motivated people. It is a lot easier to be
motivated if the people around you are.

Keep Positive
Keep a positive attitude, see problems and set-backs as learning opportunities. For more about
this, see our pages on Mindsets and Positive Thinking.
Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Work on ironing out your weaknesses and building on your strengths.

Do It
Try not to procrastinate, assess the risks but keep working towards your goals. See our
pages Time Management and Minimising Distractions for more.

Get Help and Help Others

Don’t be afraid to ask other for help and don’t hold back if you can help them. Seeing other
people succeed will help to motivate you to do the same.

Read more at: https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ps/self-motivation.html

7 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Work Hard When You're Really Not in the Mood

Motivation is rather elusive, isn’t it? Some days you feel it, and other days you can’t grab
a measly corner of it no matter how hard you try. You stare at the computer screen,
willing yourself to type, create, develop, and instead you find yourself simply going
through the motions, barely caring about the work you’re producing. Needless to say,
you’re totally uninspired, and you don’t know how to make yourself feel otherwise.

Quora users have been there, and they have real and practical solutions for digging up
that lost motivation and getting a job not just done—but completed with a sense of
passion. Read on for seven tips and tricks that’ll get you motivated in no time.
1. Don’t Think About it as Hard Work

There is only one way for me to motivate myself to work hard: I don’t think about it as
hard work. I think about it as part of making myself into who I want to be. Once I’ve
made the choice to do something, I try not to think so much about how difficult or
frustrating or impossible that might be; I just think about how good it must feel to be
that, or how proud I might be to have done that. Make hard look easy.

Marie Stein

Think about it: If the project you’re faced with isn’t viewed as drudgery, but rather as a
piece of the puzzle that’s helping you along your career path, then perhaps the energy
required to do it will be easier to come by.

2. Create Small, Bite-Sized Goals

There’s a reason donut holes are so lovable. They’re easy to eat. Before you know it,
you’ve eaten a dozen of them. This is how goals should be too. Of course you should
have a really big, audacious goal. But make sure you break down that goal into bite-
sized, consumable goals. This way you’ll feel like you’re making progress in your
journey and you’ll also feel a sense of accomplishment when you complete the smaller
goals. A feeling of progress and achievement is a beautiful combination.

Nelson Wang

You’ve no doubt heard this advice before, but have you applied it to motivation?
Completing a large project is daunting when you don’t know where to begin. How can
you finish if you don’t even know where you’re starting? So, rather than focusing on a
large, scary goal, take one thing at a time, and break the big goal into ideas you can
digest one at a time.

3. Read Daily

Make sure you carve out time in your day to read. (I recommend the early mornings
before everyone is awake.) Read for at least one hour a day. If that’s too much, start
with 20 minutes [a day] and do it for one month (habit). Develop a belief that reading
is the quickest way to success. It will make reading a breeze, and extremely
fun/rewarding (if you’re driven by success). The most successful people in the world
attribute their success to reading a lot of books (Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Elon Musk).

Curtis Blackmore

Although it may sound counter-productive to set aside reading time when really what
you’re looking for is motivation to work hard, sometimes it’s necessary to do something
seemingly unrelated to tackle the task at hand. Developing a daily reading habit is one
thing that’s likely to have a long-lasting impact on your thought processes, ultimately
inspiring you in all areas of your life.

4. Stop Caring About the Things That Don’t Matter

Doing things that don’t mean anything costs [us] a ton of mental energy. Look at your
aggregated to-do list, find things you know that you don’t care about, and get rid of as
many of these activities as possible. You will stay more consistently motivated if you’re
working on activities that are inherently meaningful or are part of a larger mission.

Nick Miller

Look very carefully and closely at your list, and shave off anything that’s both truly
demotivating and unnecessary for you to do. It’s not always best to finish what you
started if, down the line, you can’t even remember the reason you started something in
the first place.

5. Set a Quit Time

Entrepreneurs tend to stray from the typical 8 to 5 workday, and global accessibility
through emails and Skype makes it more than easy to have a 24-hour workday. But
it’s important to recognize when enough is enough. Set a realistic quitting time for
yourself, and stick to it most days of the week. Stop answering emails after 8 PM, or
take Sundays off. You’ll feel more refreshed and more productive when you allow
yourself some down time.

Matt Holmes

Raise your hand if you’re motivated 24/7! I didn’t think I’d see any hands. It’s
unrealistic to feel energized all the time, to want to plow through tasks all the time. You
need to give yourself a rest, and if that means giving yourself a specified set time to
unplug or turn away from the demands of your job, then do it. It’s likely to help you
perform harder and smarter in the hours that you do allot for work.

6. Just Do It

To get motivated to start doing something, from my own experience, the most effective
trick for me is to just do it (sounds trite, but it works). As soon as you think something
needs to be done, jump into it, doing it immediately (of course, provided the conditions
are feasible). You must not think about anything else, suppressing all other thoughts,
keeping your mind blank, acting like a robot. Yes, it sounds weird, but it does work!
Otherwise, you will debate whether you should do it now or there were too many
issues with doing it, or there are other more pleasurable and exciting things to do over
this boring task.

Bob Win

Now here’s some worthwhile advice: Instead of waiting around, willing yourself to feel
motivated, what if you just went ahead and started doing the work you know you need to
do? Dive into the project and trust that the focus will be what you need.

7. Celebrate Wins

Start acknowledging all the good you are doing. Don’t discount the little things. I
mean, how many times do you scold yourself for doing something small that wasn’t
perfect? How often do you think the good things such as being on time, or signing a
new client is simply how it’s meant to be? They need celebrating. You need more wins
in your life. This will motivate you, encourage you, and help you see how brilliant you
truly are.

Kai Ashley

If you’re constantly waiting for a long-term payoff, you forget how crucial all the little
wins are. And it can be challenging to stay motivated and on top of things if there’s no
reward in sight. Treat yourself with small things and don’t underestimate how gratifying
it can feel to recognize tiny advancements.