Have you ever tried to start something, but you just didn’t feel motivated to do it – most of us have. What is motivation, and why do we believe we need motivation to change our behavior? Psychological definitions of motivation vary widely in content and complexity, but many students I ask describe it as the drive to do something. I like that, but what is drive? Some think motivation is a thought, others an emotion, and still others a behavior. This presumes, again, we need to think, feel, or be motivated to do something. Is this really true?
Have you ever dragged yourself to work, school, or stayed up late working on something without feeling like doing it? If so, maybe you didn’t need to be motivated to do the behavior in the first place. Whether motivation is a thought, emotion, behavior, or simply a word we use to describe our experience when we engage in goal directed behavior, rethinking our understanding of motivation can actually help us do behavior and perform more effectively.
According to a growing body of evidence, the type of motivation people report having when they do behavior predicts their persistence and success in performing. Being driven to do something for reasons outside yourself and your values, like the need to satisfy others or be recognized, can make you feel controlled and more likely to quit. Being driven by reasons inside yourself can make you feel more aligned with your values, keep you persisting, make you resilient, and make you less likely to quit. According to self-determination theory, controlled motivation undermines persistence, and autonomous motivation promotes persistence.
So how can this help you perform better and get things done?
- First, don’t wait until you feel motivated – you don’t need to. Motivation is nice but not necessary for behavior; motivation might not even be a thing anyway as much as just a concept.
- Don’t let it control you – start by doing the your behavior first, even without feeling like it.
- Try to stay present focused and on task, and see if your motivation changes. If it doesn’t, just keep going. You’ll be done before you know it, and you might even feel better when you finish.
We all have to do things we don’t like sometimes. If you’re doing something that’s truly consistent with your values though, you’ll probably find your motivation increases; but this way, you won’t have to wait until you feel motivated to get started. So if you’re stuck feeling not motivated to do something, but it’s important for you to get it done, don’t wait. Act first. Let motivation follow. Even if it doesn’t, you’ll be done before you know it.
