There are moments in our life when we are getting a lot of energy to do something good. Like a sudden burst of energy to achieve your dreams, to learn new things, or even the surge to finish a single task. On the other hand, sometimes we also tend to want to just lay on the bed and sleep all day, getting tired by just the thought of having to do tasks and just want to slack off and end in the rabbit hole of unproductivity. The reason behind these two situations is probably because of what we call motivation.
According to Google, motivation is defined as the general desire or willingness of someone to do something. It is a thing that drives you to do or to start something. In a research on the connection between employers' motivation and their performance, it has been proven how motivation greatly affects one's performance "Since motivation affects performance intensively, it is necessary to continuously increase the motivation of employees, respectively permanently maintain at a high level." Read full research. Although the research talks about company and employees' relationship toward achieving motivation, this may become handy also if we take it to a personal level.
Here are some of the counterintuitive things you can do to kill your motivation.
Disclaimer: All of these things are just my opinions which are based on my reflections, research, and a lot of observations in my workplace. These opinions may not necessarily mean true all the time.
• Be distracted
- The no. 1 motivation killer is being distracted. Every one of us has our own goal to accomplish right? and there's nobody out there who doesn't want to achieve it. Ironically, motivation can be easily diminished through distraction. Imagine, you have a task to do, you are highly motivated, then out of nowhere you pick up your phone, launch "TikTok" (for example), and you were entertained, then you ended up mindlessly scrolling, you forgot that you have a task to accomplish, in every video you see, the lesser your motivation to accomplish your task, and then it will result to the lack of motivation.
Quick Fix: Focus on your goal!
• Procrastinate
- I'm guilty of it and will always be (most of the time). Procrastination is the action of delaying or postponing a task, I am not saying that it's always bad to postpone things, but the problem is if you do it repeatedly, it will cause you trouble, especially if the thing you are procrastinating is very important. Now, this repetitive action of procrastination will diminish your motivation for such things, and eventually, lose interest in finishing it.
Quick Fix: If you don't feel like doing it. You're not feeling well! Do the task, JUST DO IT!
• Go straight into the final goal.
- Probably this is very subtle but affects motivation big time. I believe in what they say "take small steps, one at a time". Going straight to the FINAL goal sets you up in the illusion of achieving immediate results, and most of the time you become willing to go all in, risking everything even if it'll result in self-destruction. Then, increasing your chance of failing rather than success, and this failure will pile up, making you less to no longer motivated in achieving your goal.
Quick Fix: One step at a time.
• Compare yourself to others.
- Of course, when you start comparing yourself to others in any way, maybe thinking they are better or you're better than them, either way, your self-confidence will become low, or high. Probably this shift of self-confidence will increase your negative self-talk such as: " I won't do this anymore, because he's better than me." or "I won't do this anymore, I'm better than him, no point in trying." Keep In mind that every one of us has our timeline, and the things in your life will unfold someday. Patience is a virtue.
Quick Fix: You are different from everyone, compare yourself to your past self and see how much you've become better
• Be a perfectionist.
-Perfectionism is the best way to set yourself into discouragement. By being a perfectionist, you are setting high expectations for the result that is just about to happen, and we all know that no matter how prepared we are about something, the universe will still be the one in control. This idea is based on the philosophy of Daoism called "
Wu Wei" also known as "Doing Nothing" or "The Art of Letting Things to Happen". With that being said, everything that we try to control even if it's beyond our control will lead to frustrations if something had happened beyond what we can do, and frustrations lead to a lack of motivation.
Quick Fix: Let go and let God.
• Forget about your health.
-One of the well-known theories that talks about motivation were "Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs", which states that a person needs to fulfill first his basic needs for him to proceed to the next level, failing to do so will significantly decrease the motivation upon achieving certain goals.
Read More. An unhealthy person finds it hard or even can't make a good decision. Take for example, when you are hungry, can you think straight? or do you have the energy you need to move? See? By just leaving your health to its bare minimum, do not expect that you can have the motivation to do things.
Quick Fix: Stay fit in any aspect of your life.
• Do not plan.
-Planning helps you have an overview of how you can accomplish things. Through this, you will be aware of what things you need to prepare or accomplish and be prepared for it. I know the idea is quite contradictory in no. 5, but the key difference is " in a healthy way" of planning. The anticipation you have set while planning, of course in a healthy way, what task you can finish will give you a slight increase in motivation. Doing the opposite will result in losing your motivation.
Quick Fix: Have a plan.
Authors Note:
Although the title itself is counterintuitive, it's all up to you my readers on how you will take it. I trust and believe in you and that you will take it to cause positive changes in your life. Anyway, if you like this post, please subscribe, and share this with your friends.
That's it for today!
Thanks!
