When most people land a new job, they are full of excitement and begin contemplating how they can be successful. After a while, responsibilities become routine and the balloon of motivation that was once ready to burst is now almost completely deflated.
Before we dive into ways to maximize your motivation, consider the three components of motivation according toProEssayWriter.
Activation– the decision to do something.
Intensity– the amount of effort that goes into doing it.
Perseverance– how long you can keep up with the effort.
Now, let’s look at ways to maximize each component of motivation.
Activation– Sometimes the mere decision to do something is a challenge. Often times, we procrastinate, vacillate and hesitate to prioritize. One of Dale Carnegie’s principles to ‘Break the Worry Habit Before It Breaks You,’ is to, ‘Cooperate with the inevitable.’ You know which tasks must be accomplished daily, so jump in and stop wasting time. Cooperating with inevitable means doing what you know must be done instead of hemming and hawing about it. If you are hesitant because you worry that you may fail, then follow Dale Carnegie’s advice and ask yourself, “What is the worst that can possibly happen?” Then prepare to accept- and improve on, the worst once the task is actually complete.
Sometimes, we are overwhelmed and unsure where to begin which is why prioritization is critical. Many productive people use Stephen Covey’s matrix of Importance versus Urgency matrix to prioritize. Basically, consider everything that you need to accomplish in a given day or week, and start with those tasks that are most important and urgent. Tackle other tasks only after those with the greatest urgency and importance are done.
Intensity– The level of intensity applied to tackling a project or task will be higher if you are intrinsically motivated, e.g. the motivation comes from within which means you will do it regardless of the outcome or reward. Intrinsic motivation makes it easier to concentrate whereas with extrinsic motivation, the trigger’s source is external such as wanting to earn a reward or receive recognition from peers. To increase the intensity, stop making excuses, hunker down and give yourself a pep talk. At Dale Carnegie Training, our students shout the phrase, “If you act enthusiastic, you’ll BE ENTHUSIASTIC!” and literally pump our fists up and jump into the air to motivate our mindset. The work must get done, put on a positive attitude and bring it up a notch.
Perseverance– Make sure you have a deadline to stay on track. If you are taking care of yourself mentally and physically, and still can’t muster up the energy to complete the task at hand, apply another Dale Carnegie’s critical principle and, ‘Keep busy.’ One of the best ways to keep your mind and feet from wandering during a task is to allot time for breaks—and take them! You’ll return to the task with fresh perspective and renewed energy so you can ‘keep busy’ and ultimately persevere.
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