Bright Consultancy

What moves you to action?

‘Nothing is more important than feeling good’. Abraham – Hicks

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about motivation. It’s interesting to muse on what moves me to action, and what doesn’t. Research scientists and psychologists suggest that we take action for two reasons: for pleasure, and to avoid pain. Although pleasure and pain are emphatic words, it’s easy to think of examples of both of these. I get up at a certain time in the morning because if I don’t, I’ll be late, and I won’t like that (pain). I arrange a social activity, take time out or treat myself because I want to feel good (pleasure).

When you think about your own motivation, what happens when you think about work? Do you do the things you do at work to avoid pain, or to create pleasure? I know that in the past, when I’ve worked in a role that I’m not fully in alignment with, I’ve spent most of my time taking action to avoid anticipated discomfort. Now, running my own company, I’m mostly motivated towards things I enjoy.

For most of us, life contains a little of both things. It can be interesting to think that sometimes the things we need to do are just that – things we need to do. In and of themselves, they are neither painful nor pleasurable. They are just activities. This suggests that the way we talk to ourselves about the things we need to do might count for a lot.

I remember years ago being on the phone with a friend and complaining about how much I hated doing the dishes after dinner. She suggested that instead of telling myself a big story about hating doing the dishes, I could just try doing them anyway, and then discover what that would be like. It can be liberating to do our daily activities without any drama.

So, what’s your motivation going to be today? What story will you be telling yourself?

Tags: ideas on motivation, motivation in business, motivation to work, self improvement, what motivates you