Self-motivation: this is how you achieve your goals

Regardless of whether we change habits, overcome fears or just get out of bed in the morning and want to get dressed: Almost nothing works without self-motivation. As a rule, we become particularly aware of this when we see our to-dos and goals clearly before us, but cannot get ourselves to do them or pursue them. Most of the time we are easily distracted and dawdle our time with everything that does not help us at all – in contrast to targeted self-motivation, we typically master procrastination from the inside out. But it doesn't matter, after all we are capable of learning and we will now reveal how we can learn self-motivation.

Self-motivation: where's the problem?

Simultaneous versus delayed reward

Under normal circumstances, we find it particularly difficult to motivate ourselves when actions that we feel require discipline, e.g. B.

  • (work concentrated
  • diet
  • learn vocabulary
  • Clean the fridge

What we usually don't have to be asked twice is everything that is fun, e.g. B.

  • meet friends
  • Sport (may fall into the above category for some people …)
  • eat chocolate
  • watch TV

A major difference between these two types of actions and a reason why some require discipline, others enjoy is that we are in the first case get the "reward" for our work later, in the second immediately, d. H. meanwhile – in the form of feelings of happiness. We feel at the Fridge cleaning Happiness, it would be as easy as eating chocolate. This is why extremely enthusiastic people tend to have less difficulty motivating themselves than deliberate skeptics.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivators

It is also typical for downstream rewards that these are extrinsic motivators, i. H. external factors like positive consequences and results from our action. At work, for example, this could be our salary, which we get at the end of the month and from which we can buy nice things, with a diet, the number on the scales or the label of our jeans, and with the fridge, the fact that the door finally closes again or it no longer smells every time it is opened.

Some parents also use extrinsic factors when raising children: "If you clean up your room now, you can watch TV an hour later." However, this usually only works if Junior is in a good mood. However, if he is just stubborn, it probably won't work. And the same also applies to us adults. B. have absolutely no desire for our job and loathe it from the bottom of our hearts, the thought of the reward does not help either. B. the salary payment. Extrinsic motives help us to overcome and make decisions, but are the only incentive that is neither particularly suitable nor reliable – because sensible arguments alone do not convince us emotionally.

In contrast to external incentives are intrinsic motivators positive aspects, which we even in be able to insert and interpret an activity and the pleasant feelings to evoke them in us. In the job, this could e.g. For example, the fact that we are making a meaningful contribution to society or that we have qualifications that enable us to do this. Both should make us proud and strengthen our self-esteem. With a diet, an intrinsic motivator could be that we are doing something good for our body (if we choose the right diet …) and feel fitter and more comfortable. And by cleaning the fridge, we may prove that we have our household under control and everything under control.

In contrast to extrinsic motivators are intrinsic always avaliable, because we can create them ourselves based on our attitude and our thoughts. Usually they also cause us Combine joy and happiness directly with the activity – and not with one of its consequences. In this respect, intrinsic motivation is often linked to simultaneous reward.

Self-motivation: That really spurs us on

In order to be able to motivate ourselves, we need to know what exactly gives us joy and happiness when we do an activity – in other words, when it is an exhausting activity that does not automatically send certain messenger substances in our body on the journey and puts us into a state of intoxication like e.g. B. Eat chocolate. According to psychologists, the following three factors are huge motivational boosters.

1. Self-determination

A suuuuper support for our motivation the feeling of acting voluntarily and on your own. If, on the other hand, we feel compelled and think that we have to and no longer need to be able to do anything else, our motivation usually lets us down immediately and it becomes really caustic. One reason for this: there is a little control freak in all of us who absolutely wants to decide and shape himself and who quickly turns and rebels as soon as we feel addiction.

What does that mean in practice for us? If something is really difficult for us and we feel we have to (e.g. get up early and go to work), we can and should remember that we basically act voluntarily. We decide how to live our lives, so everything we do is voluntary and grown on our crap – and if it feels different, it's mainly due to our perception. (In this context, you may also be interested in our article on "Finding Yourself".)

2. Expertise

Another motivational booster is to be good at something or to improve yourself. Expertise, qualification, talent, ability, progress and further development – all of this makes our jobs appear easy and leads us to carry them out with joy and enthusiasm.

What does this mean in practice for us? On the one hand, that we should respond to our talents in our way of life. If we e.g. B. are extremely empathic, but a rivet in art, a profession like a teacher or senior citizen would probably be more suitable than an architect or fashion designer. On the other hand, it is important that we notice and celebrate our progress and improvements.

3. Meaningfulness

A third uplift for our motivation is meaningfulness and purpose. If we see a benefit in our actions that goes beyond the activity itself, we are more willing to work for it and make an effort.

What does this mean in practice for us? We should go by what when we make our decisions about what goals we set and how we spend our time we feel as meaningful and valuable. Doing something just because everyone is doing it is usually not a sufficient reason to give us a sense of meaning.

Self-motivation: 6 practical tips

So let's summarize: We are most motivated when we …

  • Feel joy, happiness and enthusiasm for something and our actions feel like a reward for us,
  • are intrinsically motivated
  • act self-determined,
  • are good at something and
  • recognize a higher meaning in our actions.

And if we can't set it up quickly or if everything already applies, but we're still not motivated, we can also help our self-motivation with tricks – for example with these.

1. Set concrete goals and deadlines

If we don't know where we want to go, why should we run? Concrete, ideally also measurable goals and deadlines help us to get our asses up and kneel down in something. Who z. For example, if you want to do something for your body, you should not "do more exercise" but rather "do 15 minutes of yoga four times a week and go for a 30 minute walk three times a week". For larger and long-term challenges, we should set ourselves milestones and like to proceed in small steps!

2. Cheerleading

Who needs a group of female athletes with pompoms when you can cheer on yourself? "You can do it!", "You can be so proud of yourself!", "It's a nice job!" and similar positive thoughts of this kind change our inner attitude and let us tackle things with more enthusiasm.

3. Celebrate success

If we have overcome something or have reached a (stage) goal, we should celebrate it properly, be delighted and deliberately proud of ourselves. For example, every evening after a day on which we have completed our sports program, we could stick a colorful sticker in our calendar or write it down in our diary with corresponding hearts and asterisks. It may sound silly, but such success rituals are huge mechanisms of motivation – which are not used in addiction therapy for nothing.

4. Reward

As I said: extrinsic motivators can support! Therefore, there is absolutely nothing against offering yourself a reward and also treating yourself if you have achieved something. Who z. B. has completed his sports program for four weeks, but then earned something from new shoes …

5. Stay relaxed

As "the doctors" already sang: "You are always best when you don't really care." Sometimes it helps to let go, to take a deep breath, to release pressure, to say "whistle" – and suddenly the motivation is there. (You can find more about this in our text "Self-optimization".)

6. Make the to-dos as beautiful as possible

To quote another wise person: "I make the world as I like it." Listen to music while cleaning the fridge, go for a walk in the park (or also in the shopping street, which we think is more beautiful) and arrange a lunch break with your colleague or take a photo of the sweetheart or the cat at work – there are sooo many Opportunities to make life and the necessary and sometimes annoying elements positive and pleasant for us. If you are creative, you will always find a way to get excited – and luckily we are all human beings. (You can find out more about this in our article "What is Man?").

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