How Does Self-Motivation Work?
This post contains affiliate banner links. For more info, see my disclosures.
Self-motivation is a particularly challenging topic.
This is something that is problematic for nearly everyone. However, if you are dealing with depression, and/or anxiety, it can be even more difficult.
What IS self-motivation? It is finding our own inner-resources in order to motivate ourselves to do things. Sometimes they are big things, sometimes small. Finding motivation generally begins with the self, though we frequently go out-of-our-way to find any other source for motivation.
Why? Part of this, I believe, is due to our overall societal lack of accountability. I mean, let’s face it, NOBODY wants to be accountable for anything…it is far easier to blame. We see this at every single level of our modern society. I didn’t do it, I blame ‘x’.
Another part, I believe, is that we tend to look outside of ourselves, before we look within. There is a real lack of awareness among people, in addition to self-knowledge. Part of this comes from actions on the part of our so-called “leaders” to disempower us; part is from our own lack of self-worth. As such, we become over-reliant on other resources, from teachers and books to friends and faith.
Please note, I am in no way devaluing teachers, books, friends and faith. Each has a place, and can be an outstanding resource for gaining knowledge and information. However, ignoring our own self-motivation in favor of these outside influences can be a real slippery slope. Why? Because real motivation comes from within, not from without.
Self-motivation is not selfish
All too often, we associate anything with the self and apply it to the notion of selfishness. We get so many mixed messages about this that or the other thing being selfish, we wind up neglecting the self. We do this out of fear that our actions might come across as selfish.
Putting ourselves first is NOT selfish. Selfishness only occurs when an action we perform denies somebody abundance and prosperity. Taking two slices of pizza when there is only one for everybody; not telling somebody about a perfect job for them at your workplace because you fear they might show you up; offering an unwanted opinion because you are absolutely certain you know better than someone – these are examples of selfishness.
Resting, eating healthy, thinking, feeling and acting to better your life is not selfish. Along this same line, self-motivation is not a selfish act.
What IS self-motivation?
Self-motivation is making a way to do something. This can be applied to nearly anything you can think of. It might be getting out of bed in the morning; cooking dinner; writing; and so on. This is the process of finding or creating the motivation to get things done.
Consciousness creates reality. EVERYTHING in the universe falls into this. We are uniquely capable of thinking of something, feeling it out, then taking an intentional action to manifest it into being.
Thought is arguably the easiest part of this process. Everybody has a plethora of thoughts every day. Thoughts become things…but not out of a vacuum. The thoughts are nothing but empty ideas until feeling powers them, and action drives them.
To move a thought into being, we often need motivation. We all have rough days, we all face challenges and obstacles. When these make matters particularly difficult, we may need to find some self-motivation to move forward.
I am often searching for this myself. It can be pretty daunting, because something that works for my motivation today might not work tomorrow. Like having tools to combat depression, having some self-motivators can be extremely useful.
Self-motivation tools
Through my own experiences, here are a few self-motivational tools:
Habits. We all have habitual things that we do. Establishing certain habits can be self-motivating tools. For example, daily meditation, writing a certain number of words a day, or any established routine can be a habit. These are an excellent source of self-motivation.
To-Do Lists. I am not a list-maker myself, but I should be. Creating a list of things you need to do can go a long way towards motivating yourself to make things happen.
Ask Questions. Stopping to ask questions is an excellent way to motivate yourself to get on track, in especial if you are not. Questions tend to pull us into the now, and it is from the now that we can best do just about anything.
Create Rewards. Like training a dog, sometimes you need to have rewards for when you accomplish things. A treat, a massage, a new toy of some sort – big or small, these can be excellent self-motivators.
Have A Motivation Buddy. Yes, this is self-motivation, but that does not mean you need to do it alone. Having a friend to remind you to get on it, whatever it is, is still a tool for motivating yourself.
Finally, it’s important to address this. When you fail at motivating yourself – and you will – do NOT get down on yourself. Don’t let it make you feel angry, depressed, worthless or otherwise negative. We all have both good days and bad. But we also have permission to suck, and fail at motivating ourselves. Just take a new approach, and make another attempt.
What do you employ for self-motivation?
This is the three-hundred sixty-second entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas for, and my personal experiences with, walking along the path of life to consciously create reality. I share this journey as part of my desire to make a difference in this world along the way, and empower myself and my readers with conscious reality creation.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share this.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available here.
After more than 6 years of Pathwalking, I have launched a Patreon to garner support for these works, and more.
Please take a moment to subscribe to my blog. Fill in the info and click the submit button below and receive your free eBook. Thank you!
