One day you get up and can’t wait to get to work.
Another day you can barely talk yourself out of bed. How is it that sometimes we feel more motivated to get things done or pursue our dreams and at other times we fight a sense of lethargy – even hopelessness?
Oh, quite often we start out excited, enthusiastic, and raring to go. Yet all too often it is as if for some reason we just take our foot off the gas and let the car coast to a stop before we reach our desired destination.
The keyword here just might be desire. When we desire something (or someone) it means we want it. Of course we don’t always want one thing as much as we may want another.
For instance, say you are unhappy in your current job. You find the projects you are assigned to boring and you want more of challenge. You got passed up for a promotion you desperately wanted. The desire to get another job is very strong. Strong enough to motivate revamping your resume, start networking, troll online job boards into the wee hours of the morning, and interview as much as you can – even though you hate going to interviews.
When you finally get that new position you’re simply delighted and can’t wait to start. You finally got the title you’ve been aiming at and your responsibilities will challenge you to utilize all your skills and well as learn new ones. Initially you hit the ground running. . But then days and weeks pass by and, before you know it, you’re not only less enthused, you are lethargic, you start to put things off, and you’re a little nervous that maybe your boss expects more than you can deliver. Maybe you expected more than you can deliver.
Or perhaps you’ve just retired. You’ve always been interested in gardening and dreamed of having more time to learn more about it along with the time to put into creating that beautiful landscape. At first you pour over books and join the local gardening club. You spend hours deciding which plants you want and where you want to plant them.
But then something really weird happens. You really want that beautiful yard, but somehow you just can’t move forward. You keep putting off going to the local nursery and purchasing plants and supplies. You start working on getting the soil ready, but somehow things just seem to come up out of nowhere that get in the way of finishing the job.
What can fuel our lack of motivation
In both of these examples what is apparent is a lack of motivation. Although both of these scenarios begin with a great desire to achieve goals and pursue dreams – even those these desires may even seem to be just as strong as they ever were, lethargy and procrastination set in.
There are many reasons for lack of motivation – which quite often takes the form of lethargy, even a sense of hopelessness and/or helplessness.
- We may feel we don’t have the skills.
- We may feel we don’t have the talent.
- We think we don’t have the resources we need.
- We may fear we will fail.
- We’re afraid of what others may think of our efforts.
But what do we really lose when we find our motivation lacking? It may seem simple enough: we’ve lost is the incentive(s), or reason(s), to continue – or even start for that matter.
There are many theories of motivation, but it is common to feel motivated either by something we ourselves desire (intrinsic motivation), or by something someone else desires of us (extrinsic motivation). When something or someone motivates us this means we are motivated to act, to behave in a certain way. The problem lies in maintaining a level of motivation strong enough to maintain the behaviors (things we need to do) to achieve these goals and desires.
Unfortunately, many envision the ability to stay motivated as some sort of personality characteristic. The notion that you’re either the kind of person who can maintain enough motivation to see things through – or you’re not. That your level of motivation is somehow out of your control.
However, motivation is not magic fairy dust that you are either born with or not.
Watch this video learn more about the decision to live abundant life
Motivation is a decision – a choice
James M. Buchanan is an economist whose research includes underlying motivators for individuals and collectives (for example governments and businesses). Of course, Buchanan concentration is within economics – money. It is easy to see that money can motivate behavior. We all need money to survive. Some of us, if not most of us, desire more money than what is required for mere survival.
We certainly have needs and desires other than the acquisition of money. Abraham Maslow, a behavioral psychologist, theorizes that humans have a hierarchy of needs and desires. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs starts with physiological needs (such as food and shelter) and then progresses to the need for self-actualization – or achieving our full potential. Maslow felt that each level of need had to be mastered in order for a person to self-actualize – or act to their full potential. This seems to make sense when trying to understand our lack of motivation because, quite often, we lose our motivation due to our perception that we have other, unmet needs (for example, we haven’t achieved a desired level of skill), and that these unmet needs get in the way of pursuing our goals, our dreams, our potential. However, when we apply Buchanan’s theory of motivation to Maslow’s hierarchy a new insight becomes available to us.
Buchanan’s idea is that motivation is actually a series of decisions, choices that we make. We decide upon, or choose, to pursue something we desire – a particular outcome. We then choose behaviors that will achieve that particular outcome – or not.
Of course, we all have different desires – and we all have our reasons contributing to a lack of motivation to achieve those desires. However, perhaps the most powerful means to self-generate motivation is the knowledge that we have the choice to remain motivated.
Those of us who practice quantum jumping techniques and methods understand the full implications of seeing motivation as a choice. Quantum physics demonstrate the existence of multiple universes. These universes are created out of the same matter that exists in our own universe due to quantum physics mathematical proof that particles can exist in more than one location simultaneously – and these alternate universes are created whenever two or more possible outcomes exist – such as when we make a choice to do, or not do, something.
But how does this help in any practical way? Say, for instance, you have always wanted to pursue art but fear you don’t have the talent. Because human beings are made up of particles and particles can exist in more than one place at the same time, there is an “alternate” you who does not fear not having the talent and made the choice to become an artist.
Quantum jumping techniques allows us the opportunity to access and assimilate the skills, talents, resources, self-esteem, and self-confidence necessary to choose those behaviors that not only move us toward our goals, but also keep us motivated along the way.
