Motivation – Between goals and values
Most of us experience fatigue and low motivation at some point in our lives. Despite the enormous efforts, we come short of our goals and feel powerless. But, if we give our best effort why do we feel burnt out and devoid of motivation?
Researchers at Harvard found that motivation comes as much from achieving a goal as from doing something that we enjoy. In one experiment, Professor Dan Ariely and his team invited volunteers to build Lego robots and paid them a small amount of money for each model. Some volunteers noticed that their Lego robots were immediately disassembled and the same set was used to build another model. It turned out that this simple step prevented participants from feeling satisfied with completing the task. In other words, seeing their effort turn to dust drained the meaning out of work and devalued the goal itself.
This finding brings us to a very important point. The reason our motivation fails is that, consciously or not, we believe that the effort we put into achieving our goals will help us reach the desired end. In fact, we get pleasure from making progress towards a goal and becoming more competent in a particular role. In simple terms, we value our ability to “make things happen” and therefore find meaning in such pursuits.
So, to boost your motivation, consider how you can achieve your goal in meaningful ways, and engage in something you enjoy for its own sake. How?
1. Know your values - identify those that are most important to you.
2. Reframe your goals in order to reflect your values.
3. Choose activities which satisfy both your goals and values.
I recommend an insightful and superbly written book “The Happiness Hypothesis” by Jonathan Haidt. It offers practical advice on how to train yourself to become more positive, based on proper scientific studies and psychological theory.
I also found this brilliant psychological tool, the VIA Survey of Character Strengths, which helps to identify your core values: https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/
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