What Is Motivation?
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.”
- Lou Holtz
(American Football Coach; Winner of 4 championships and 9 coach of the year awards)
If you are looking for the definition of motivation, then you have come to the right place. The origin of the term “motivation” is found in the Latin word “movere” which literally means “to move.” This quite aptly describes the inner force in all of us that stimulates our interest, arouses our desire, sharpens our focus and drives us to direct our actions in a particular way. Motivation is an essential component of performance, as we regard successful people as being highly motivated. More than that, motivation is fundamental to driving every human function. Without motivation, we would not achieve even the most basic of tasks.
According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. As everyone is unique, understanding how we are motivated is key to unlocking our motivational reserves that will help propel us to greater achievements in all aspects of our lives. There are three components of motivation that have an impact on the course of our chosen activities and our achievements in life – (1) Activation. This is the desire to pursue an activity at the expense of the other activities available to us. This is where we choose to direct our time, energy and efforts. Your direction and choices will change at various times in your life, as your motivation, your desired goals and outcomes change. For example, in your spare time, do you mostly choose to socialize, exercise, relax in front of the TV, or pursue self-improvement through education? More specifically, in the build up to your wedding you may be motivated to exercise so that you look your best on your big day, but in the weeks after it you may choose to relax in front of the TV to allow your body to recover from all the busyness of the wedding preparations. You are highly motivated to work hard in the run up to the wedding to ensure you look your best, but after the event, much of that motivation is deactivated as your goal has passed. (2) Persistence. The continuation of an activity. The extent of your motivation will determine whether you see the task through to the end, or give up along the way, leaving the task unfulfilled. (3) Intensity. The extent of the time, energy, resources and effort you put into an activity. At times, you will be motivated to give everything to achieving the success of a goal, other times you will only be motivated to give a certain percentage of the resources at your disposal, which may leave a goal unachieved.
You can learn all you need to know about motivation from my book, Live A Motivated Life. You can get your copy now, by clicking here. Invest in yourself!
- Lou Holtz
(American Football Coach; Winner of 4 championships and 9 coach of the year awards)
If you are looking for the definition of motivation, then you have come to the right place. The origin of the term “motivation” is found in the Latin word “movere” which literally means “to move.” This quite aptly describes the inner force in all of us that stimulates our interest, arouses our desire, sharpens our focus and drives us to direct our actions in a particular way. Motivation is an essential component of performance, as we regard successful people as being highly motivated. More than that, motivation is fundamental to driving every human function. Without motivation, we would not achieve even the most basic of tasks.
According to various theories, motivation may be rooted in a basic need to minimize pain and maximize pleasure. As everyone is unique, understanding how we are motivated is key to unlocking our motivational reserves that will help propel us to greater achievements in all aspects of our lives. There are three components of motivation that have an impact on the course of our chosen activities and our achievements in life – (1) Activation. This is the desire to pursue an activity at the expense of the other activities available to us. This is where we choose to direct our time, energy and efforts. Your direction and choices will change at various times in your life, as your motivation, your desired goals and outcomes change. For example, in your spare time, do you mostly choose to socialize, exercise, relax in front of the TV, or pursue self-improvement through education? More specifically, in the build up to your wedding you may be motivated to exercise so that you look your best on your big day, but in the weeks after it you may choose to relax in front of the TV to allow your body to recover from all the busyness of the wedding preparations. You are highly motivated to work hard in the run up to the wedding to ensure you look your best, but after the event, much of that motivation is deactivated as your goal has passed. (2) Persistence. The continuation of an activity. The extent of your motivation will determine whether you see the task through to the end, or give up along the way, leaving the task unfulfilled. (3) Intensity. The extent of the time, energy, resources and effort you put into an activity. At times, you will be motivated to give everything to achieving the success of a goal, other times you will only be motivated to give a certain percentage of the resources at your disposal, which may leave a goal unachieved.
You can learn all you need to know about motivation from my book, Live A Motivated Life. You can get your copy now, by clicking here. Invest in yourself!
