Maintaining Your Internal Desire
In the past, have you been struggling to keep up your level of motivation? Find out the likely reasons, as well as the quick proper steps you can take to ensure more consistent motivation to help you destroy your short and long-term goals!
- Motivation is the desire or willingness to engage in certain type of behaviours. There are two types of motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic.
- Intrinsic Motivation refers to behaviours that are driven by rewards from within (e.g. you engage in the behaviour because it is naturally satisfying) [1].
- Extrinsic Motivation is behaviour that is driven by external factors (e.g. you receive rewards, praise, approval as a result of engaging in the behaviour) [1].
Research has shown over and over again that intrinsic motivation is what will help us maintain a behaviour in the long-term, whereas extrinsic motivation can be helpful to facilitate a behaviour in the short-term. Both are often used together to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the behaviour [2].
Factors Controlling Your Internal Desire
In order to truly change your behaviour and ensure long-term motivation, you will need an internal desire to change. Certain factors determine your internal desire towards engaging in a behaviour. According to the intrinsic motivation theory, the following are requirements to maximize your internal desire.
- Competency = You need to have some sort of skill in the behaviour to increase the likelihood of efficiency and success.
- Example: You have a greater desire to engage in blood-flow restriction training if you have previous experience in it vs. if you have never tried it.
- Autonomy = You should have full control over the behaviour, as well as have the freedom to do as you choose as you perform the activity. You should have control over the activity and it should not be up to external factors.
- Example: You have a greater desire to perform a workout because you are able to choose your activities vs. you are being told to perform certain exercises.
- Relatedness = You should be able to relate to the activity and have certain expectations of how it makes you feel.
- Example: You have a greater desire to engage in high-intensity workouts because they make you feel euphoric for a specified time after you are finished.
In other words, if you have high levels of intrinsic motivation towards a certain behaviour, you likely have had previous experiences that allowed you to develop a certain skill-set and familiarity with the task. You have the choice of doing as you wish instead of being told what to do. You are aware of how it made you feel, and you felt that you were growing and thriving during or after the activity.
SMART Goal Setting
Sometimes we know that we should be participating in a certain type of behaviour, but we are unsure why. These following examples may sound familiar in one way or another:
- Why should I be performing resistance training twice a week? I am fine with the way I look and I do not want to risk injuring myself
- Why should I take a mental health vacation day? I cannot miss another day and I would only be letting my co-workers down.
Whenever you feel this way, try to catch yourself and take a break. Write down or deeply think about what you are truly feeling to try and get behind the meaning of the internal conflict. Is it possible that external rewards (e.g. money, comfort) that satisfy you in the short-term are trying to overtake your deeper, more meaningful internal desires?
Take 5 Minutes to work on setting one short-term and one long-term goal in the SMART goal format.
- (S)pecific = Be specific when you create your goal, the more specific you are the better as you are going to be more likely to engage
- (M)easurable = You goal should be measurable via a tool or device
- (A)cionable = You should be able to take action soon and there should not be any significant barriers that prevent you from doing so.
- (R)ealistic =Your goal should be realistic so that you are able to achieve it.
- (T)imely = Put a time on it so that you have a check-in point to revisit your progress.
Example: I want to be able to perform a 5k run indoors on a flat surface in under 35 minutes by March 20th.
Actionable Tips to Increase Your Motivation
- Write down your deep internal desires for an activity-related goal.
- Create a long term goal and two short-term goals using the SMART goal-setting in the format as shown above. This will help you get started on your path towards greater self-fulfillment.
- Keep in mind that your internal desire increases with behaviours that are autonomous, competent, and relatable. To make this a bit easier, below you can find sub-categories that help you fulfill each of those needs:
- Challenge = make the activity challenging, compete with yourself or against others
- Curiosity = you should be curious about the activity and the associated experience
- Recognition = receiving social recognition increases our internal desire to continue performing the activity in the future.
- Cooperation = receiving help if you need it from a friend or a leader can help with making the activity more enjoyable and facilitate competency
- Variability = make sure the activity has the potential to be variable. Switch it up every once in a while so it keeps you excited
- Fantasy = have an activity that you can keep exploring through stimulating mental images and thoughts
- External rewards can be helpful in temporarily boosting your motivation levels in the short-term. If you feel that your internal desire is in need of a boost, you can use an external reward (e.g. spending money towards a leisurely activity) as an incentive.
References
[1] Santos-Longhurst, A. (2019, February 11). Intrinsic motivation theory: Overview, factors, and examples. Healthline. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.healthline.com/health/intrinsic-motivation#how-it-works.
[2] Emerging Leaders. (2021, October 5). Understanding intrinsic and extrinsic motivation: Emerging leaders: University of Rochester. Emerging Leaders. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.rochester.edu/emerging-leaders/understanding-intrinsic-and-extrinsic-motivation/#:~:text=Intrinsic%20motivation%20involves%20performing%20a,punishment%20or%20receiving%20a%20reward.
*DISCLAIMER*
Prior to starting any vigorous exercise regimen, make sure to talk to your doctor and physical therapist.