What Makes You Tick?
Three Things You Need to Know About Personal Motivation
1) You Must Recognize What Motivation Is Not
Steven R. Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People said,
Motivation is a fire from within. And if someone tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
We know this statement to be true, do we not? We’ve all experienced it.
From a parent, a partner, a preacher, a teacher, or a boss. Do you remember the well intended lectures, pep talks, admonition and advice? Have you encountered some version of a high-dollar rah-rah event with a motivational speaker so charismatic that you were temporarily swept into a new mindset?
Unfortunately you’ve likely figured it out; this is not true motivation. Whatever “it” was — is gone after about a week. Back home and back to the office — and it’s back to “normal.”
Fires lit under us by the attempts of well-meaning others are not enduring sources of motivation. The external hype of a moment and the emotional response it may elicit cannot produce sustainable change in and of itself.
While someone else’s passion and energy for life can encourage you to discover yours — the key is for you to understand your own sources of energy and vitality. And this can only begin with a personal examination of your own complex inner drivers, not by an attempt to latch on to, or copy someone else’s.
Just like the ancient maxim teaches:
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Knowing how you as an individual are fulfilled and perpetually motivated can only result from a thoughtful examination of your own life. You have to “get you.”
2) You Must Know What Motivation Is
Motivation is: energy .
From the Latin ‘mover’ — meaning to move, and the Anglo-Norman ‘motif’ — meaning drive, we have the word motivation. It’s our reason for doing but is not the action per se.
Our motivation is the “motive for action.” It’s the “why” we do what we do and act the way we act; the framework of our core desires determining how we feel, how we interpret information, and how we take action — or not.
Our happiness and success at work and in life is partly determined by whether or not our essential core motivators are being met. These emerge from our self-concept, beliefs, expectations, and personality and are not a result of a conscious decision.
Motivation cannot be borrowed from someone else or defined by another. Your inner fire and sources of fulfillment are uniquely yours. We must detect and discover the source of our own energy. Only then are we equipped and empowered to live fully!
Deeper understanding of your own motivation equips you to :
- Take meaningful action and make good decisions
- Set priorities
- Exercise healthy boundaries
- Improve relational and career engagement and performance
- Boost your personal and professional fulfillment
Think about this list of skills and outcomes! How would your life be different if you had this kind of clarity and personal insight?
3) You Must Know the Language of Motivation
The foundation for the language of motivation is set in the underpinning of three well-established human needs.
- The need for meaningful work or achievement
- The need for healthy relationships
- The need for personal progress or growth
We are all are driven from within to meet these core needs; it’s part of survival. This means that we will pursue ways to meet these needs no matter our age, gender, role, career, or social status. We are energized — physically, emotionally, and spiritually — when these basic needs are met in healthy ways.
But self-examination must move beyond knowing “what” we need to the “how” to apply what we learn. And that’s where Motivational Maps® can help .
According to extensive research and correlating with Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, we all have nine motivators which are divided into three clusters as depicted in the diagram below.
Each individual’s inner drivers are comprised of various proportions of all nine motivators. Understanding your unique map profile equips you to understand current levels of motivation and how to boost personal and professional fulfillment by addressing any de-energized domains.
Are you currently more motivated by relationships or achievement? Or is personal growth and development more energizing for you? Importantly to remember, there is no right or wrong answer, or good or bad blend of motivators.
Do you tick when free and autonomous? Or perhaps you feel vitally alive when you are creating something new.
In another article we will explore the characteristics of the nine motivators. But for now, it may be fun for you to speculate what you think your top motivators may be.
Don’t live an unexamined life. Know what makes you tick!
For more information go to exceedinglife.com/motivational-mapping
To your vitality!
