Creating Awareness Around Your Motivation

Change can be challenging, especially initiating it and taking that first step. Often our inner critic can get loud and find ways to convince us to remain inactive and keep the status quo. That critic part of us is more committed to the predictable. Being aware of this thinking is very important so that we can recognize it for what it is, a gremlin with a mission. What is also important is understanding and being present to what motivates us.
There are two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic:

• Intrinsic or internal: It occurs when people are compelled to do something out of pleasure, importance, or desire
• Extrinsic or external:  It occurs when external factors compel the person to do something

Motivation is the catalyst to change. It gives us the energy to take the first step and the next and the next, thus propelling us to change and reach the desired outcome. I often have clients come to coaching and say, “I need you to motivate me.”  The truth is I cannot motivate anyone to take action. The motivation needs to come from you for action to follow.  I can help you find clarity, create structure, and hold you accountable for what you say you want. True motivation comes from you and often from within. There are sometimes extrinsic motivators that help build the momentum of change like money or recognition from a boss or someone you respect, but the first step in motivation comes from within.

Here is the secret that we may know on some level: what motivates you may not motivate someone else,  motivation is unique to an individual. We all need to figure out what motivates us. It is linked to our values, who we are, and what is important to us.
Here are my suggestions to unravel and get clear on your motivation:

1. Take a breath and then another and then one more, get relaxed
2. Next, name something you truly want to change in your life
3. Create a vision of that change coming to fruition, be present to how you would feel if that outcome was fulfilled
4. Now name what you need, want or desire that will propel (motivate) that change