Motivation is the most significant predictor of success. A research concludes that experts in many walks of life, whether Entertainment, sport, Arts, music, dance, or business, had put in the most hours at their craft. I found this fraise very interesting. “It takes 10 years and 10,000 hours to become an expert.” In other words, the most successful people just keep plugging away longer than we think.
Its obvious that high motivation ensures total preparation which will, in turn, ensure maximum performance and results. This is something most successful people of our time including celebrities use.
This same concept of motivation applies to making changes in our lives. The reality is that change is difficult because, in all likelihood, you have been the way you currently are for a long time and your habits are deeply ingrained. Your ability to find and maintain your motivation for meaningful and long-lasting change will ultimately determine whether you’re able to break long-standing habits and patterns.
Motivation can be given this 5 great definitions:
- An internal or external drive that prompts a person to action
- The ability to initiate and persist toward a chosen objective;
- Putting 100% of your time, effort, energy, and focus into your goal attainment;
- Being able to pursue change in the face of obstacles, boredom, fatigue, stress, and the desire to do other things;
- Doing everything you can to make the changes you want in your life.
But it’s one thing to saying you are motivated to make changes and achieve your goals; it’s another entirely different thing to have that motivation translate into actual action toward those goals. Motivation is so important because it impacts every aspect of our efforts during change.
6 Great Work of Motivation
- Preparation to make the changes;
- Patience in giving yourself time for the changes to occur;
- Persistence when old habits and patterns resist your efforts;
- Perseverance in overcoming obstacles and setbacks;
- Lifestyle that supports the changes;
- Ultimate achievement of the desired changes.
For every person, there is a different motivation that drives them toward their change goals. It can also be said, that situations determine our motivation and effort to reach destinations, hence; never compares other peoples struggle to yours.
All else being equal, whatever you put into your change, efforts is what you will get out of them. A problem among many people who say they want to change is a disconnect between their efforts and their goals. People say they really want to change, but their efforts don’t reflect that stated motivation. It’s easy to say that you want to change. It is much more difficult to actually make that happen.
The difficult nature of making changes means that you will likely be putting in effort that will take you far beyond the point at which it is inspiring or fun. The Grind, which starts when actions necessary to produce meaningful change become stressful, tiring, and tedious. The Grind is also the point at which your efforts toward change really count. This is what separates those who are able to change from those who are not. Many people who reach this point in the process of change either ease up or give up because change is not as easy as it looks. But truly motivated people reach The Grind and keep on going.
Finding the Motivation
Finding the motivation to change means maintaining your efforts consistently when it would be easy to give up. It involves doing everything possible to achieve your change goals.
According to a research, motivation to change begins with 3 D’s.
1) Direction: Before you can begin the process of change, you must first consider the different directions you can go in your life. You could continue your life as it is now, make immediate and dramatic changes, or take a slower route to change.
2) Decision: With choices of direction, you must decide on one direction in which to go. None of these directions is necessarily right or wrong, better or worse, they’re simply your options. Your choice will dictate whether you make changes in your life and the amount of time and effort you put into those changes.
3) Dedication: Once you’ve made your decision, you must dedicate yourself to it. If your decision is to makes significant changes in your life, whether quickly or slowly, then this last step will determine whether those changes are realised. Your decision to change will then become a top priority in your life. Only by being completely dedicated to your direction and decision will you ensure that you have the motivation you will need to achieve your change goals.
Written by: Noellin Imoh-Griffiths
