Personal Growth: Motivation: The Drive to Improve:

Do You Have the Drive to Become Who You Were Born to Be and Do What You Were Born to Do?

According to the research of Dr. Anders Ericsson, motivation is the most significant predictor of success. In simple terms, Dr. Ericsson found that experts in many walks of life, whether in business, sports, entertainment, the helping profession, and so on…., had put many hours into their craft. He coined, “It takes 10 years and 10,000 hours to become an expert.”

Other research has shown that the longer someone is in a career, the less it is about innate ability and more about the importance of motivation. In other words, the most “successful” people just keep plugging away longer that others.

Why is the relationship between motivation and success (positive outcomes as seen by the individual) so robust? Because, high motivation will ensure high level of preparation, which will in turn ensure maximum performance and results in whatever endeavor that is pursued in order to reach a goal.

The same concept applies to making changes in your life. The reality is that change is challenging, in all likelihood, you have been the way your currently for a long time and your habits are deeply ingrained.

Your ability to find and maintain your motivation for meaningful and long lasting change will ultimately determine whether your able to break longstaing habits and patterns.

Defining Motivation: Let’s first consider what motivates us in practical terms. Motivation can defined in the following ways:

An internal or external drive that prompts a person to action.
The ability to initiate and persist towards a chosen objective.
Putting your time, effort, energy, and focus into your goal attainment.

I think external drives such a a lost job, an illness, a failing relationship, ext., is self-explanatory. With internal drives, there is a need to self-reflect and go “deeper”.

With that said, let’s take a look at the internal drive.

Motivation is not about having the energy to finish your to do list, it is about your desire and focus.

Do you have a focus of what you really want?
Do you really want it?
Is that desire and focus worth the effort to get you out of where you are at, to where you want to be?

When you shift your focus to understanding what you really want, you’ll find how to get motivated along with time you didn’t know you had.

What about the ability to initiate and persist toward a chosen objective?

It’s about the internal drive, to keep going. One’s internal drive can be fueled a few different ways.

“Your current situation is to painful and somethings gotta change!”
The excitement and passion for knowing where you are going (what your focusing on).
You know, that you know, this is something you’re supposed to do.

If you have a dream, a desire, a focus for yourself but you have trouble making it happen or even start to move towards it, you may be struggling with one of the biggest blocks to living your purpose, limiting beliefs.

Beliefs are the thoughts and feelings we assume to be true that guide us toward (or away from) our goals.

A limiting belief that holds you back is one that is negative, such as “I’ll never be fit because my whole family is unhealthy” or “I was a bad student in high school so there’s no reason for me to try to get a college degree.” Even if you have the goal of, let’s say, of having more self control when angry, or becoming physically healthier, these types of underlying limiting or false beliefs will get in your way.

When you can identify the limiting or false beliefs that are blocking you from feeling that your dreams and your desire for growth is possible, motivation will rise up in you. Once freed from the blocks that have been hindering you, empowerment is given by knowing your true and empowering beliefs.

What about the last noted aspect of motivation?

Putting your time, effort, energy, and focus into your goal attainment.

Just that statement sounds daunting, doesn’t it?

Once your focus is shifted to what you really want. Once the blocks of limiting beliefs have been addressed. There is one more key ingredient that fosters motivation, your “Why”.

Ones “why” is attached to emotion, to passion, because it is driven by a belief of what you feel is important.

The reason why, when it is the right one for you, can be the driving force that keeps you going. You become emotionally connected to your goal, which actually fosters living life with purpose.