bythemethod.com blog

Overview

Getting motivated for something in the long term is one of the hardest things we ever have to do. Here I offer some guidelines that might just help.

Introduction

There are two types of motivation: internal and external. Most forms of motivation tend to focus on the external.

External motivation includes things like: money, fame, holidays, houses, lifestyles etc. These can all be powerful motivators but unfortunately they are often only good for short term projects. The prospect of acquiring something can really give you an impetuous to get started but then things start to go wrong and you don’t meet your first target and everyone else is doing better than you and soon you give up.

So then what can we do to stop this kind of boom or bust mentality and what can we do to help ourselves stay motivated on a long term project?

Well you’ve probably guessed it by now and that is to use internal (sometimes called intrinsic) forms of motivation.

Some powerful minds have looked at this problem and my summation of what they have found is that there are four steps to go through for internal motivation.

• What – know in as much detail as possible what you are doing
• Why – understand why you are doing something
• Measure – find ways of measuring your progress
• Pleasure – find ways of taking pleasure in what you achieve

Step 1: What?

You need to have a good idea of what you are trying to do. What will the end product look like? How will you know when you have finished? The better an idea you can get the more motivated you will be to do it. There is nothing more de-motivating that have a project to do when you have no idea where the end of that project will be. For instance if you say your target is to lose weight – how will you ever know if you have reached your aim (the truth is that you will either keep going never feeling like you are getting anywhere or give up after a few days in the belief that the aim is just impossible). So get a clear idea of what you are trying to do.

Step 2: Why?

To stay motivated you need to have a moral commitment to what you are doing. That is you need to believe that the project is worth doing. This means it’s not just enough to know why you have to accept that the why is worth it. If you are someone who believes family is more important than money – for instance – and your project is to make money the chances are that the first problem you encounter over time away from the family will de-motivate you for the project. The project must fit with your own ideas of what is worth pursuing.

Step 3: Measure

For a long project you need some way of knowing that you are making progress on the project. If you set off to accomplish something and you don’t feel that you are making progress then you are likely to want to give up. In a long term project the end will seem an awfully long way off when you start. I like to walk in wilderness areas and I know that the longer a destination is away the tougher it is mentally to reach it. If you have other places to visit on the way and you know how those relate to the destination it can really help when the going gets tough (especially if you plan in a few chocolate breaks along the way). So find a way to measure the progress of your project.

Step 4: Pleasure

I think it’s a wonderful thing that nearly everyone in the world wants to do a good job. Contrary to popular belief nearly everyone is keen to feel pride in what they do. To stay motivated you need to have pleasure in the job you are doing. This means  – in the first instance – giving yourself enough time and the right resources to complete a project. This also means – as you progress – that you need to find ways of taking a pride in your success so far. You need to feel pleasure and congratulate yourself on a job well done – so far. How you do this depends on the project but one good idea is to build in some of those external rewards every now and then so you can stop and take some pleasure from what you are doing.

Conclusion

External motivators are not good for long term projects. To be truly successful it is necessary to use internal motivation. This is a very complex subject but in essence there are four things you need to work on: What? Why? Measure and Pleasure. If you can make these things work for your project you will find that you can stay motivated much better and achieve much more.