The secrets of self-motivation

The secrets of self-motivation

25th March 2024

“Motivation is the desire to act in service of a goal. It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining our objectives. Motivation is one of the driving forces behind human behaviour. It fuels competition and sparks social connection. Motivation encompasses the desire to continue striving toward meaning, purpose, and a life worth living.”

[Source: Psychology Today]

It occurred to me that motivation is one of the most important human drivers… the ‘why’ behind everything we do. Whether that’s being motivated to live a structured, orderly life or quite the opposite, it’s the way we’re programmed. My ‘why’ as an endodontist is to keep learning, striving to be at the very top of my game and, through educating, sharing the knowledge to young, aspiring dentists who also have a thirst for evolving and improving. So why is it sometimes hard to self-motivate?

According to Time magazine the crucial ingredient is emotion. Associating a feeling with a result is one of the key ways to create the necessary incentive to act. Simply recognising that something has to be tackled isn’t enough – apparently it’s all about the emotional desire. Happiness is a proven route to achievement – we do more when we’re in a positive, can-do frame of mind. It stands to reason doesn’t it? 

The next part of motivational success is seeing progress. Making and charting progress is a sure-fire way to fuel your go-getting inclinations. Last month’s article was all about the quick wins. By breaking down our more arduous or challenging tasks we can see how far we have come with each bite-sized chunk. This sequence of shorter actions compels us to keep going and results in a much more motivated approach.

Reward then follows as a further link in the motivation chain. The reward could be as simple as making a fresh coffee when you’ve finished a report. Or it could be a new gadget for your practice once you’ve completed some vital training. I knew two dentists who played squash every week. They kept a tally, week in, week out. Whoever lost during the course of the year, over approximately 50 games, would pay for the annual ski holiday for them both. There’s serious motivation to improve your game right there!

Accountability also plays a big part. When you embark on something ambitious, tell people. Involve your peers. Make your plans known. It’s a lot harder to procrastinate when the world (or just your world) is watching closely.

In considering all of this I read quite a few articles on the subject. I pondered and made notes. I chatted to a couple of people about it. And then I thought I had better motivate myself to get on and get my article written! We are only human, we will constantly face those hurdles or blockers but I’m going to try to attach emotion to those things in the future, remind myself how I’ll feel about seeing the results. I’ll reward myself appropriately and be sure to tell my friends and family what they can expect of me.