Motivation is an internal incentive, impulse, or intention that leads you to act in a particular manner or to accomplish a certain goal. Other people may be able to influence your actions, but motivation ultimately comes from within you.
What are the benefits of motivation?
Motivation provides three major benefits:
- Increased productivity:
Motivation helps people work hard to accomplish their goals and leads to personal satisfaction in the completion of tasks. Motivated people understand that hard work and sacrifice in the present will lead to favorable outcomes in the future.
- Reduced anxiety:
When people are motivated, they are able to overcome their anxiety, which might otherwise prevent them from learning new skills or accomplishing difficult tasks.
- Maximized use of skills and talents:
Motivated people are driven to use the full range of their skills and talents. Constant practice of these skills and talents develops and reinforces their abilities.
How can I use motivation to improve my performance?
Motivating yourself to perform can be difficult, but it will provide you with many benefits. If you use motivation to enhance your skills and talents, you will achieve more success, satisfaction, and happiness in your work than you would using your skills and talents alone.
Achieving the following three goals will help you motivate yourself to perform at a higher level than your current level of performance:
- Overcome procrastination
To overcome procrastination, you need to recognize when you are procrastinating and identify your usual procrastination habits. In addition, you need to determine and understand the causes of your procrastination, then implement strategies to counteract them.
- Apply self-discipline
Applying self-discipline requires choosing when to engage in activities that provide immediate gratification and when to postpone gratification to gain rewards in the future. You can develop self-discipline by exercising initiative, choosing role models, separating your roles in life, using positive affirmations, and determining your goals.
- Practice self-leadership
To practice self-leadership, you need to avoid making excuses for your mistakes and learn to expect more from yourself. When you take control of and responsibility for the events in your life, you can change your bad habits and motivate yourself to complete tasks.
