“A friend can occasionally help pick you up when you are down, but they cannot force you to enjoy life.”
To be in the state of perennial self-motivation, you need to wake up, dress up and show up, come what may. It is up to you to set goals and take action to reach them. You should not expect someone else to do this honour for you. Your goals need not be dramatic, but they must move you towards something which can add value to your life. If you sit around and wait for motivation to strike you, it is like losing a battle. To begin with, you start pumping energy into your nerves, engage your mind in something outside of yourself, and feel the momentum build. When you are able to achieve this, you become your own cheerleader!
Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, and dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going. – Chantal Sutherland
There is a need to understand that no two people are the same, no two people had the same upbringing and no two people had the same destiny. Hence, you will have to walk your talk. No one else can step into your shoes to live your life. Experiences that formed your current view of life differ totally from those of everyone walking this earth. So do not expect someone else to “get” who you are deep inside.
Drawing a leaf from my life, when I thought of coming up with my book on English Poetry, people around me were quite apprehensive, including myself. They were like: Book on poetry? Why? Can you write poetry? Who will read it? Nobody knows that you can write poetry. Till then, I was known for my business and technical writing. So, their apprehensions were logical. After a few days of deep thinking and self-discussion, I decided to go ahead with it. I was determined: I will sink my teeth into it.
By nature, I am a self-motivated individual, I do not need any outside cheerleaders to cheer me up. The work began on the book, construction of content, writing & sequencing of poetry after poetry and finally wrapping it up. Here I was ready with my book: Life – An Existential Cocktail which is very well received. This way if you want to achieve something in life, just be on it, do not wait for others’ validation, you can do it or not. It is your inner inertia that holds you back.
So, what keeps me self-motivated?
Being self-motivated also means having enough self-awareness to know what works for you and what does not. Rather than depending on others to give you a reason for doing, your sense of motivation comes from within. Your drive comes from your interests, values, and passions, not someone else’s checklist.
You can only find the possibilities in your day, relationships, or life. Sadly, as an average person, we are looking for what is wrong so that we can fix it and then feel happy. If you listen to the surrounding conversation; you will find many complaining and blaming. Now, it is your choice to take part in that. Instead, you should try to blaze your trail by focusing on what can go right instead of what is wrong.
What is self-motivation and why it is important?
To be specific, self-motivation is the internal drive that leads us to act towards a goal. It keeps us moving forward, even when we do not want to. An example of this is when you are going for a run. You set a goal to run for 20 minutes, but at 15 minutes you are exhausted. You want to stop. Self-motivation is what keeps you disciplined to run out the clock.
As the name implies, self-motivation works through you, internally. It does not depend on others. When you motivate yourself, you push yourself to reach your personal goals through hard work and passion.
You are the one reaching for new opportunities and doing the Inner Work needed to make long-term change. This takes sustained effort, self-discipline, and true self-confidence.
Ways to remain motivated:
- Always act with a purpose.
- Take responsibility for your own results.
- Do not wait for perfection, just do it now!
- Eat wisely because success takes energy.
- Surround yourself with motivated people.
Now that you are aware that how you can be your own cheerleader. You need to find ways to ring in small happy moments in your life, which could be feeding your cat, playing with a roadside puppy, eating ice cream, baking a cake, or just cycling in the park. When you are happy and cheerful, achieving your goals becomes easier.
Here is a catch. You should start by understanding what motivates you. You will likely relate to one of two different types of motivators: internal and external.
Internal motivators provide the motivation you need to do things you want to do. This is called intrinsic motivation. If you are motivated by internal factors, you are likely to feel satisfied, happy, and interested in your tasks. These tasks can be fun. They can also be personal challenges that you know will teach you valuable things. Intrinsic motivation fuels long-term goals that you know benefit your future.
External motivators, or extrinsic motivation, are all about rewards or punishment. These external rewards could be a paycheck or a promotion. When we are externally motivated, we might not have as much passion or drive as we would for intrinsic goals.
Magic is believing in yourself. If you can make that happen, you can make anything happen. –Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Trying to find someone else to fulfil your life is an endless chase. There is no point in expecting to meet that one person who can meet all of your criteria. One clear definition of the word “fulfilment” states: “satisfaction or happiness as a result of fully developing one’s abilities or character.”
That’s it! Once you find fulfilment in your own life, you are ready to connect with others in a healthy and mutually beneficial relationship.
Get right with yourself before others can get right with you.
This way be HappyHo!
