When Motivation Isn’t Just An Internal Thing.
Focussing on current priorities as motivation
Happy new week dear friend!
We woke up today with over 10cm of snow and -8 degrees Celsius outside but the sun was out and the day was already beautiful from the get-go. I was inclined to cozy up indoors with my crochet project but I thought the day is too beautiful to waste indoors. It took me a good hour to make up my mind to get out and I am glad I did.
I decided to use the stroll for a few practical things among these were looking for a gym close by - based on a Google search, and on my way, I came to think about motivation and where it stems from. I know popular belief states, it is an internal force but when I think of how I struggled this morning to get out of the door and why I actually did I’d say it was more of an extrinsic than an intrinsic force.
Do you think motivation is an internal force only?
When I think of why I walked out the door this morning, I know my health and fitness were particularly the main push. Yes, I have really enjoyed the Christmas break and move to our new home, and with the big garden and all I’d been telling myself I could motivate myself to do some exercises outside. However, moving in the winter has meant very cold temperatures and shorter sunshine times so this means I haven’t been that active.
We have more or less settled but I still haven’t found a gym close by yet and this is telling on my fitness and body. I can tell I am not as fit and toned as I was about 4 months ago. So, when I looked at the weather and the temperature, it wasn’t really my can-do attitude that was pushing me out the door but an actual confrontation with my fitness and body.
I would like to stress the fact that I am not one to body shame, no I think we are all worthy and beautiful in whichever bodies we are comfortable in. Yes, the key word is comfortable not by any specific standards but by our own and I can see that I am not as comfortable now as I used to be. I know I can’t change what I don’t acknowledge and acknowledging this was my first step to effecting change. So, my motivation was based more on the external factors in this case in order to bring myself to my comfortable state.
I share this to bring another perspective to this intrinsic belief - it is ok for external factors to motivate us to do things to better ourselves. If we are in a state of our lives where we aren’t pleased let’s use that as a stepping stone to initiate this change.
It need not only be how your body looks after birth or after some neglect, it can also be that promotion or pay rise that didn’t come your way or even that partner who mistreated you. I’ve discovered all of these are good enough reasons to want to treat ourselves better. They are reasons that I believe don't all fall within the intrinsic motivation category and that’s absolutely ok.
Tips I have used in finding motivation
When I have experienced situations where I needed to take action on something but couldn’t really get motivated to do it, I have considered 3 aspects of my life - health, relationships and spiritual. To understand where I stand with each I ask
How is what I’m doing right now impacting my mental and physical well-being?
Is this situation strengthening or harming my relationships with others?
How is what I’m doing right now aligned with my values and contributing to my inner peace?
I don’t use all questions all the time, sometimes 1 or 2 would suffice and get me the reason to start a change, these have helped and still help a lot. It is worth remembering that any change we desire or initiate has a common denominator which is us, so we need to be gentle and kind to ourselves in the process.
Your turn
As we start a new week can I encourage you to think about the question - is motivation only an internal factor and if you are lacking motivation to initiate a change see if the questions I shared above can help you get closer. I’d love to know how you find the motivation to get things done so kindly share your thoughts in the comments.
Have a great week ahead and thanks for reading.
Love & light
Sheila Daisy