5 Ways to Become More Self-Motivated

Working from home means you must be self-motivated. This is true for all sorts of at-home jobs including blogging. However, when you are a depressed blogger, such as myself, you may find that motivation becomes more of an elusive thing than a solidified idea. I remember struggling with writing “Mommy, I’m Gonna Marry Daddy: Why Our Romantic Partners are Like Our Parents.” I was totally unmotivated to write the article. The topic seemed trivial and overwritten to me. I’d rather have written about a new finding in psychology or something other than the psychology of relationships, but the fact is we all must do tasks we don’t enjoy. It is important to understand motivation itself to become more self-motivated.

Motivation is defined as, “the act of getting someone to act on a situation” (2012 Burton). There are four types of motivation (2012 Barton). These four types are extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, introjected motivation, and identified motivation (2012 Barton).

Briefly, extrinsic motivation is motivation that comes from “external factors” (2012 Barton). Intrinsic and introjected motivation are the same in that they each come from within the self. However, introjected motivation comes with a sense of guilt attached to it (2012 Barton). Last, identified motivation is when a person recognizes that a task needs to be completed, but takes no steps to complete it (2012 Burton). Most research suggests that it is best to have a bit of both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations in the workplace, but overall a person must have a great amount of self- motivation (2012 Burton). Thus, we can tell that self-motivation is important and identified motivation is the least important. Ideally, we would all like to be intrinsically motivated, but some of us struggle with this more than others, so how do we become more self- motivated? Below is part of a list originally created by Jennifer Cohen on five ways to become just that.

Set small and measurable goals (2013 Cohen) If you are in fact a blogger, then you probably know that “write more” is an incredibly vague, bad goal. Instead, you’d want your goal to say something like “write one article once a week.” Small and measurable.

Develop a Mantra (2013 Cohen) A mantra is defined as “a verbal statement that reinforces a positive mindset” (2013 Cohen). This could be one word or an entire
phrase. For example, mine is as follows: “If it helps one person, it’s worth it.”

Create Your Own Routine/Rituals (2013 Cohen) Take some time to figure out what routine or ritual gets you going in the morning. Does a shower first thing in the morning help light that spark? Or do you need a good workout?

Become a Good Mental Debater (2013 Cohen) You’re going to be plagued with negative thoughts, especially if you’re depressed! Try to challenge those negative thoughts with positive ones.

Face Your Fears (2013 Cohen) Jennifer Cohen couldn’t have said it better when she wrote, “No matter what the fear, fear is one of the biggest reasons why people give up on their goals and dreams.”

What do you do to motivate yourself?

Works Cited

Burton, K. (2012). A Study of Motivation: How to Get Your Employees Moving (Doctoral              dissertation, Indiana University) (pp. 1-33). Indiana University.

Cohen, J. (2013, November 06). Motivation Is A Muscle: The 7 Best Ways To Substantially  Increase Your Productivity. Retrieved April 11, 2017, from  https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2013/11/06/motivation-is-a-muscle-the-7-best-ways-to-  substantially-increase-your-productivity/#60cce33f11c5