Mastering Motivation: 5 Powerful Ways to Discover Your ‘Why’

Does it seem like your motivation varies from one day to the next? Do you get super excited about a project only to feel your motivation wane a few weeks later? Do you ever beat yourself up for “being lazy” because you lost the motivation to achieve a goal? If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions, you’re not alone! And you’re in the right place 🙂

In this post, you’ll learn about what motivation actually is, how to overcome the motivation fallacy (for good!), and discover five powerful strategies to leverage motivation for long-term productivity. Plus, I included five actionable tasks you can start implementing today.

By the end, you should be confident to achieve your next big goal and completely elevate your productivity! Let’s dive in!

Mastering Motivation: 5 Powerful Ways to Discover Your ‘Why’

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What is Motivation?

Motivation is defined broadly as “the energizing of behavior in pursuit of a goal” or “the desire to act and move toward a goal.” At its foundation, motivation helps us to obtain our most basic survival needs; food, water, companionship, and shelter. We know what we need when we need it and how to get it. Survival-based motivation is useful because it compels us to find the resources needed to, well, survive. These needs will ultimately drive you into a psychological urgency to take action. 

Motivation is an emotional response when the need to change your circumstances outweighs the desire to stay the same. When leveraged at the right moment, motivation is like a spark that could set a fire.

These days, motivation tends to play a bigger role when it comes to achieving our personal and professional goals. Whether it’s hitting the gym, completing a project, or learning a new skill, motivation is the driving force behind our actions. It’s what gets us out of bed in the morning and keeps us pushing through challenges.

Understanding what motivates you can significantly enhance your productivity. Motivation can be intrinsic, like the joy of mastering a new hobby, or extrinsic, driven by external rewards like a promotion or praise from others. Knowing the source of your motivation can help you tap into it more effectively.

As you may also know, motivation is not a constant state. It ebbs and flows, influenced by our mood, environment, and even our physical health. Recognizing this can help you develop strategies to boost your motivation when it’s waning. This could involve setting clear goals, breaking tasks into manageable chunks, or finding inspiration from others who have achieved what you’re striving for.

The Motivation Fallacy

When it comes to motivation, there is a large fallacy at play. Commonly, we will set a goal for ourselves and then wait for motivation to strike (“I just need to get motivated.”) before taking action – referred to as the Motivation Trap, by Dr. Russ Harris. The downfall of waiting for that surge is that it can lead to everlasting procrastination. Motivation can be a powerful driving emotion that launches you into the stratosphere.

But it is just that – an emotion.

Emotions are inherently fleeting and unpredictable. They come and go and can be influenced by anything from our energy levels, whether we got enough sleep and even the weather! This makes relying solely on motivation a risky strategy for achieving long-term goals.

Instead, successful people often emphasize the importance of discipline and consistency over motivation. Discipline is the backbone of productivity and doesn’t depend on the whims of emotional states. By creating habits and routines, you build a foundation that keeps you moving forward, even on days when motivation is nowhere to be found.

For example, if you aim to run a marathon, waiting for a daily burst of motivation to lace up your shoes might mean you go for weeks without running. However, if you commit to a training schedule, running becomes part of your routine, like brushing your teeth. Over time, this consistency builds momentum, and you find yourself progressing toward your goal regardless of your initial motivation levels.

Understanding the motivation fallacy is crucial when you’re looking to achieve your goals because this will push you to be in a more proactive position where you focus on building disciplined habits, setting achievable milestones, and leveraging support systems. This proactive approach will keep you moving forward, turning goals into realities, one step at a time.

Related: How to Develop Consistency for Success (with 5 Transformative Tips)

Finding Motivation: Where Does Motivation Come From?

From Maslow to Freud to Hull, there has long been a – motivation – to find out where motivation comes from and dissect it with scientific theories and mathematical equations. 

The common thread? Motivation is a fickle friend. 

You might find that motivation comes and goes as it pleases. You’ll feel a surge of excitement that drives you to plan for your next endeavor. Then just as quickly, that rush dissipates. (“I can’t stay motivated.”)

The Source of Motivation

• Passion and Curiosity: These are the initial sparks that ignite motivation. They are powerful but often short-lived.
• External Influences: Rewards, recognition, and encouragement from others can boost motivation temporarily.
• Internal Drive: Personal values, desires, and ambitions that align with your long-term goals provide more sustainable motivation.

Why Motivation Fades

• Sporadic Nature: Motivation fluctuates due to various factors like mood, environment, and even physical health.
• Overwhelm: Large, daunting tasks can stifle motivation if not broken down into manageable steps.
• Lack of Immediate Results: When progress isn’t visible, it’s easy to lose motivation.

Relying on motivation to conquer your ambitious goals guarantees that you will see the writing on the wall. This is because of the sporadic nature of motivation. The initial sparks of motivation will come from passion or curiosity, but inaction will kill your motivation. Action and consistency will breathe life into your motivation. 

5 Motivation Tips and Action Items to Find Your ‘Why’

1. Dig Deep to Examine and Uncover Your Motivation

“If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”

— Steve Jobs

Taking the time to understand the driving force behind your goals is the cornerstone of continual motivation. The objective of this self-reflection is to deeply explore what inspires and propels you forward. By examining your motivation, you lay the foundation for resilience and tenacity – both crucial for overcoming the inevitable challenges down the road. Knowing why you’re doing what you’re doing can be the difference between achieving your goal and a fizzled dream.

Action Item: Find Your Inner Motivation With the ‘Five Whys’

The Five Whys technique is a Design Thinking method typically used by businesses to quickly narrow down the root cause of a problem. The goal of this exercise is to reach the core of your intrinsic motivation by asking, “Why?” 

Start by writing down your goal and ask yourself, “Why do I want to do this?” Take that answer and ask “Why?” again. Repeat the process five times until you reach the root motivation. 

Rewrite your initial goal by including the final why. This will help to strengthen your goal and vision by linking it to a strong, intrinsic motivation. 

Example:

Goal: I want to run a marathon.

1. Why? Because I want to challenge myself physically.
2. Why? Because I enjoy pushing my limits.
3. Why? Because it makes me feel accomplished.
4. Why? Because I value personal growth.
5. Why? Because growing as a person is important to me.

Final Goal: I want to run a marathon because growing as a person is important to me.

By digging deep into the why behind your goal, you transform it from a superficial desire into a meaningful quest. This process not only clarifies your motivation but also enhances your commitment and determination. When you know that your goal is tied to something fundamentally important to you, it becomes easier to stay motivated and overcome obstacles.

This practice is not just a one-time activity but a continual process of self-discovery and alignment with your deeper values and aspirations. Reflect on your core motivation when you’re in a slump can help you to stay focused and get back on track!

2. Prioritize What Matters: Align Actions with Your Goals

“The first rule of frog-eating is: ‘If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”

– Brian Tracy, Eat That Frog

In his book, Eat That Frog, Tracy talks about the ‘frog’ as being your “biggest, most important task”. This is the one task that will have the biggest impact on your goal. It is also likely the hardest and the one you will procrastinate on if you don’t take deliberate action. Because of this, it is crucial to align your daily tasks with your goals. 

Think of the ‘The Jar of Life’ story. If the big rocks are your frogs (your high-value tasks), the pebbles and sand are your low-value tasks. Filling your jar with only the pebbles and sand first will leave little to no room for the rocks. In contrast, by filling your jar with rocks first, you will still have room for the pebbles and sand. 

Aligning your actions with the tasks that will have the biggest impact on your goal requires an intentional focus that will help to distinguish your rocks from the sand and pebbles. 

Action Item: Craft a Productive To-Do List

A to-do list can be 10 tasks that you can check off throughout the day or 1 prioritized task that will get you one step closer to your vision followed by secondary tasks. 

Start by prioritizing your to-do list based on urgency and importance. For example, if you have identified 10 tasks that need to be completed today, number them in order of importance (1 through 10). Task number one will be your frog. Tasks 2 through 4 will be your pebbles. The rest are the sand. Organize your day to tackle your frog before taking on the rest of this list. This strategic alignment helps to channel your energy into priority tasks that make a genuine impact toward your goals. 

Example

1. Frog: Complete the final draft of the project report.
2. Pebble: Respond to important emails.
3. Pebble: Prepare for tomorrow’s presentation.
4. Pebble: Review and update the budget plan.
5. Sand: Schedule next week’s meetings.
6. Sand: Organize files and clean workspace.
7. Sand: Follow up on pending requests.
8. Sand: Plan social media posts.
9. Sand: Read industry-related articles.
10. Sand: Arrange team lunch.

Final Step: Tackle your frog first thing in the morning. This ensures that your most critical task is completed when your energy and focus are at their peak. Once the frog is done, you’ll find it easier to handle the smaller pebbles and sand throughout the rest of the day.

Aligning your daily actions with your most important tasks not only kickstarts your productivity but also ensures that your efforts directly contribute to your long-term goals. This method helps maintain focus, reduce procrastination, and achieve meaningful progress every day.

3. Build Momentum with Concrete Steps

“If a body is at rest or moving at a constant speed in a straight line, it will remain at rest or keep moving in a straight line at constant speed unless it is acted upon by a force.”

– Newton’s First Law: The Law of Inertia

The Construal Level Theory (CLT), developed by Nira Liberman and Yaacov Trope, tells us that we view things in two ways – high-level (abstract) and low-level (concrete). For example, our New Year’s resolutions are typically high-level construals that focus on big-picture ideas while the report you need to complete by next week is a low-level construal. 

When applied to your goals, planning for the next week will be easier than for the next six months or even a year. The longer the time frame, the more abstract the planning process will be.

This is relevant because, as mentioned earlier in the post, inaction will kill your motivation. And while setting an ambitious goal can be exciting, sometimes it can also be intimidating to tackle when you’re looking at a 12-month goal (“I don’t know where to start!”).

Action Item: Make a Plan with Smaller, Manageable Tasks

Without action, productivity cannot exist. But to run, you must first walk. 

Mark Manson, author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, calls this the “Do Something” Principle. Atomic Habits author, James Clear, refers to this as the Physics of Productivity. Whatever you choose to call it, the underlying principle is the same – doing something will ignite your motivation.

Say you have a goal to write a book by the end of the year. By itself, this is an abstract, scary goal. By breaking it down into smaller goals, we can make this more concrete and doable. 

Example

Take a sheet of paper and start by writing your goal at the top. 

Annual Goal: Write a book.

Then make your way back towards the present day by determining your quarterly milestones. 

Quarterly Milestones:

• Q1: Write six chapters.
• Q2: Write another six chapters.
• Q3: Edit and revise the first six chapters.
• Q4: Edit and revise the second six chapters, finalize the manuscript.

Now you can begin to identify what you need to accomplish every month within each quarter to hit your milestones. 

Monthly Goals for Q1:

• January: Write two chapters.
• February: Write two chapters.
• March: Write two chapters.

If your first quarter milestone is to write six chapters, you now know that you will have to write two chapters a month, one chapter every two weeks, and half a chapter every week. You also know that for every chapter, you will need an outline, a draft, and time to edit. 

Weekly Goals for January:

• Week 1: Outline Chapter 1 and write half of it.
• Week 2: Complete Chapter 1 and edit.
• Week 3: Outline Chapter 2 and write half of it.
• Week 4: Complete Chapter 2 and edit.

By breaking down your larger tasks, you transform an overwhelming goal into a series of manageable steps. This approach not only makes the goal seem more attainable but also helps maintain your motivation by providing a clear, actionable path forward.

Related: The Ultimate Guide to SMART Goals (Plus Why They’re STILL Effective)

4. Ramp Up and Sustain Your Motivation

“I keep to [my] routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important thing; it’s a form of mesmerism. I mesmerize myself to reach a deeper state of mind.”

– Haruki Murakami

The elusive nature of motivation is deceptively misguided. Productivity is less about stumbling upon the inspiration to act and more about continuously building up your will to take action. Therefore, motivation is a mental state that can be intentionally developed.

To quote motivational speaker Jim Rohn, “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” 

Recognizing this will shift your behavior from a passive stance (waiting for your motivation to strike) to an active stance (taking an active role in creating motivation).  Motivation is the spark that will pique your curiosity, while habitual motivation will turn the spark into long-term success.

Action Item: Develop a Ritual

A ritual is defined as a “performance consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order.” 

A common example is a pre-game ritual performed by athletes. These rituals are usually seen as “a behavior or action that the athlete believes has the power to influence their performance”. These rituals serve to sharpen focus, bolster confidence, and instill a sense of control. By the end of the ritual, players are mentally prepared to play to win. Of course, these rituals do not guarantee that the team will win. But it is an effective way to instantly shift the mood and mindset of the player before a game.

This mentality can be applied to motivation. Whether it is lighting a candle before sitting down to write or saying a mantra before your workout, the essence of a ritual does not lie in the specifics but in creating a pattern and routine. Routine helps develop consistency, which is the key to sustained motivation. 

Example Rituals

1. For Writing:
   • Light a candle
   • Play a specific playlist or background music
   • Spend five minutes brain dumping to warm up
2. For Exercising:
   • Recite a motivational mantra
   • Do a specific warm-up routine
   • Visualize your workout and its benefits
3. For Studying:
   • Prepare your study space
   • Write down a quick to-do list
   • Start with a short review of what you learned previously

Establishing a ritual means that you’re creating a mental trigger that signals it’s time to get into a productive state. This practice helps you transition from inactivity to action, reinforcing the habit of getting started and maintaining your momentum. The consistency and familiarity of a ritual can make starting tasks easier and reduce the mental resistance often associated with beginning a new activity.

Related: Boost Your Efficiency in 5 Steps: Design Your Ultimate Productivity System

5. Endure and Stay the Course

“The road to success is paved with mistakes well handled.”

– Daniel Coyle, The Culture Code

Challenges will be inevitable on the road to success, and sometimes it will seem like your passion and motivation don’t come through enough to get past the roadblocks. But as psychologist Angela Duckworth notes in her groundbreaking study on grit, “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” 

This means that achieving success is not just based on motivation or passion, and the true inflection point will come during moments of drudgery or failure. At a certain point, your ability to withstand discomfort, repetitiveness, and even failure will need to be greater than your passion.

Those who are successful will find a way to work through their boredom and discomfort. 

Action Item: Fall in Love with the Process, Not the Result

It is so important to remember that to make your vision a reality, you will not love every moment of the work that goes into what you’re trying to achieve. From the nitty gritty grunt work to the repetitive practice, you will likely come across more reasons to give up than to stay the course. 

This is in no way a deterrent or a way to discourage you from your goals. It is just the reality of what it takes to achieve lofty dreams. It is easy to fall in love with the achievement because that is your ideal vision for yourself. The 30-pound weight loss, the published book, the successful entrepreneurial venture. But falling in love with the process is more challenging because it is your current reality. 

Example Strategies:

1. Set Process-Oriented Goals:
   • Instead of focusing solely on the outcome (e.g., losing 30 pounds), set goals around the process (e.g., exercising five times a week, eating a balanced diet).
2. Celebrate Small Wins:
   • Acknowledge and reward yourself for the small milestones you achieve along the way. This helps keep your motivation up and reinforces positive behavior.
3. Mindfulness and Reflection:
   • Practice mindfulness to stay present and engaged with the tasks at hand. Reflect on your progress regularly to appreciate how far you’ve come.
4. Embrace the Learning Curve:
   • View challenges and setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow rather than as obstacles.

Remember that the path of discomfort is only temporary and that when you learn to love the process, you will eventually reach the result. This mindset shift is crucial for enduring the less glamorous parts of your journey and ultimately achieving your long-term goals.

Mastering Motivation to Achieve Anything

Motivation is only a small part of achieving success. It’s a great tool for igniting excitement and passion, but consistency and building good habits will get you to the finish line.

By examining your motivation, aligning your actions with your goals, building momentum with smaller tasks, developing rituals, and enduring challenges, you can maintain consistent motivation and turn your dreams into reality.

Now, it’s time to take action!

Leave a comment below: What is your fool-proof way of getting out of a motivational slump?

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