Motivation is the Fuel not the Destination

Motivation, motivation what is motivation! Many people think they know what motivation is, but do they? A little research will show you that the dictionary definition of motivation is “the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal; the reason for the action; that which gives purpose and direction to behaviour”. Ask people to define motivation, very few will give such a concise response. This is because at some level, motivation is intrinsically involved with every aspect of our lives. We have to have a certain level of motivation to achieve anything from the simplest tasks such as getting out of bed or going shopping, through to life goals such as having a successful career. Unfortunately, most people see motivation, as part of the destination rather than the fuel that is needed to get us to reach our chosen destination.

Not understanding what motivation is usually leads to disappointment in life either on a spiritual or materialistic level. One of the most common areas where the lack of a clear definition of what motivation is occurs in the area of goal setting. We all know and understand the concept of setting goals and working towards them to achieve what we want in life, but if you speak to any number of people about setting and achieving goals, they will tell you that their goals motivate them to achieve what they really want out of life. This fundamental confusion over what motivation is often leads to people not achieving their goals and full potential, in fact it often leads to greater de-motivation, as after each setback the belief in the goal becomes less strong leading to a perceived lower level of motivation to achieve the goal. It becomes a vicious circle. It is a situation that many of us have faced and the difficulties that this kind of position brings. It takes a long time for us to realise that goals and motivation are not the same and we should not treat them as such.

When you set your goals you’re laying out the route and the destination you want to get to. When we are setting goals we are telling ourselves what do we want in life and how are we going to get there. What steps do we need to take? A list of goals will always allow us to move forward and give us a purpose in life, but they are not motivation in themselves.

Motivation is the fuel that inspires us to reach are goals and desires and allows us to keep getting up and moving towards our goals whenever we have a setback. Getting motivated and staying motivated gives us the energy we need to reach our goals in the shortest time possible. Motivation is required to meet our goals and goals are required to give purpose to our motivation. The two work hand in hand. If you get the motivation right you can achieve anything. So think seriously about how to get motivated and stay motivated so you can achieve whatever you desire.