How to get motivated? — Tip #29
We are half-way through the year and some goals are still waiting 🆘
In my circle of friends, we almost all agree that “time is flying.” It feels like only yesterday that we were talking about setting goals for the year 👇
And here we are, already halfway through the year, with little time left to accomplish anything significant.
Motivation is the “drive to do something” and it generally stems from two broad categories:
Intrinsic: the activity is done for the pleasure of doing it. This is typical of hobbies, for example watching your favorite TV series or playing an instrument. These are activities you do because you find them interesting, meaningful, or satisfying.
Extrinsic: activities generally done as a means to an end. Think about chores like cleaning the house or going to the dentist (I still have to meet someone who enjoys it 😅). These are activities we generally do for some form of reward, like money, power, praise, or status.
Research suggests that people are often more persistent when an activity feels meaningful, enjoyable, or personally important. Extrinsic motivation can still be effective, especially in the short term, but motivation tends to be more sustainable when people feel autonomy, competence, and connection to what they are doing.
As you can imagine, nothing is black and white: motivation can be mixed. For example, I personally enjoy going to the gym, but at the same time I’m also motivated by looking good (😎) and staying healthy.
Ideally, we would all be better off if every activity we did were intrinsically motivated, but life unfortunately doesn’t work like that. The best way to approach something you don’t really want to do is to make it more pleasurable or fun.
Here are a few ways:
🧠 Reframing: connect it to a personally meaningful goal, or try to find intrinsic elements within the task.
👔 Autonomy: turn the activity into a challenge or a game that makes it more fun. If the activity is repetitive, try to add some variety.
🤩 Reward: upon completion, reward yourself with something you enjoy. This can be a double-edged sword, as you may become dependent on the reward over time.
🎯 Mastery: focus on skill growth rather than just the outcome.
☕ Environment: try to put yourself in a more enjoyable setting, e.g. read emails in a coffee shop.
🫂 Accountability: share the activity with someone else, do it together (e.g. running), or let them support you.
💖 Emotional Awareness: be gentle with yourself, understand why you don’t feel like doing it, accept it, and get started anyway. Often, action itself helps create motivation once you overcome the initial block.
Personally, I’ve used a combination of all the above. The most powerful ones for me have been reframing, environment, and accountability. For example, every Saturday morning I treat myself to a coffee shop and go through all my pending emails until I hit “inbox zero”. To get in shape, I’ve always worked with a great personal trainer: when you’re paying, you show up. Lastly, for my most difficult business decisions, I always remind myself why I started and where I want to go. When I think about my mission, the rest becomes more doable and bearable :)
Your weekly tip: Tap into your intrinsic motivation. What do you enjoy? Double down on that. If you have to do something driven by extrinsic motivation, try reframing it or using other methods to make it as bearable as possible. Motivation comes and goes, so accept that you’re not a robot. Be gentle with yourself, but keep pushing toward where you want to go.
Don’t forget to share this tip with a friend who may need a motivational boost 🫰
See you next week, until then…
Don’t Panic 😱