The Power of Motivation

Motivation is the term most often used to describe why a person does something - the driving action behind human behaviour. It is often linked to goals or behaviour used to initiate a favourable outcome for the person involved.  

Self-motivation helps you do what you do. It's linked to passion and desire and the reason we explore new experiences such as travel or engage in activities which are important to us. The strength of our self-motivation comes down to the all-important 'why' and the stronger we know why we want a particular outcome, the more likely it is that we will stay on course and achieve all that we set out to do.

"Motivation is like bathing and eating; you don't take a shower or eat today & expect that to last for the entire week." -Zig Ziglar.

To understand our motivation, we need to clarify our 'why' and we can do that by classifying it into one of two categories—intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation is about personal gratification and is not linked to external rewards such as money or recognition. It's something we do for the enjoyment it brings, for example, re-defining our personal style, getting fitter or changing habits to make us feel better. 

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation is about doing something because it leads to a separable outcome and is based upon external rewards such as recognition, a salary increase or competing in sports for trophies or awards. 

Tips to stay motivated

• Start working towards your new goals on a Monday. Each new week gives you a feeling of a clean slate with new energy to meet your goals head-on.
• Try to start early in the day as you're more likely to achieve more and feel motivated to tackle that lingering task.
• Instead of pursuing several goals all at once, choose an area of your life to focus on first. This will help keep distractions to a minimum and stop you from feeling overwhelmed.
• Surround yourself with people who offer and demonstrate support.
• Find a mantra or affirmation that resonates with your goals.
• Nothing motivates like a feeling of success. Celebrate the small wins. The more successes you celebrate, the bigger your motivation for more of that feeling.
• Give yourself deadlines. Ticking that task off your list on time will lead to a feeling of accomplishment and motivate you to achieve more.
• Practise gratitude. The more we can be grateful, the more we get to be thankful for. This simple but often overlooked process can lead to a sharp rise in confidence and motivation when practised regularly.

Final Thoughts 

Everyone's reasoning of motivation is different, and each person has their own set of intrinsic or extrinsic motivation reasons for their actions. Motivation starts with a simple step and is usually credited as a key to inspiration and success. Use these practical steps to stay focused and on track, and you will live an extraordinary life. 

 Nichola English is addicted to fashion. From an early age picking out clothes for friends and family, she always had an eye for style which only expanded as she got older, eventually creating her business, The Wardrobe Provocateur. 

Nichola adores working with women (and men) across the world discovering personal style, reinventing that old tired wardrobe and realising new confidence and vitality through coaching, shopping and good old clearing out of the old. You can read her full story of becoming The Wardrobe Provocateur here.