Let's Redefine Motivation

                                                           Let's Redefine Motivation 

What is motivation ? Motivation is something that encourages action of feeling. To motivate means to encourage and inspire. Motivation can also mean to turn on or ignite the feeling or action. for Motivation is powerful. It can persuade, convince and propel you into action .In other word's motivation can be defined as motive for action. It is a force that can literally change your life.

Why do we need to get motivated ?

Motivation is the driving force in our lives. It comes from a desire to succeed. Without success there is little pride in life; no enjoyment or excitement at work and at home. Often life becomes like a lopsided wheel giving a bumpy ride. The greatest enemy of motivation is complacence. Complacence leads to frustration, and when people are frustrated they give up because they cannot identify what is important.

Motivation -- How does it work ?

Once you understand the principle that motivates the motivator, you can proceed to achieve your goal and can motivate other too. Your internal motivation is your drive and attitude. It is contagious. Attitude is the key to getting the response you want from other. How does a person stay motivation and focused ? One important tool that has used by athletes for a long time is called auto suggestion. Auto suggestion are positive statements made in the present tense and repeated regularly. In other word it is positive self -talk.  Motivation is classified in to two types :-  


1. External 
2. Internal 

External Motivation

External motivation comes from  outside, such as money, Societal approval ,fame or fear. Examples of  external motivation are fear of getting spanked by parents and fear of getting at work. A company wanted to set up a pension plan. In order  for the plan to be installed, it needed 100% participation . Everyone signed up except John. The plan made sense was in the best interest of everyone. John not singing was the only obstacle. John's supervisor and other co-workers had tried to persuade him without success. The owner of the company called john into his office and said, "John , here is a pen and these are the papers for you to sign to enroll into the pension play. If you don't enroll you are fired this minutes. " John signed right away. The owner asked John why he hadn't signed earlier. John replied, " No one explained the plan quite as clearly as you did."

Fear Motivation 

The advantages of fear motivation are : 

1.  It gets the job done quickly 
2.  It is instantaneous.
3. It prevents loss, by meeting deadlines.
4. In the short run the person's performance my improve.

Performance Goes up.

It is not uncommon to see the prey outsmarting the predator, because one is running for its food and the other for its life. We learn from history that the pyramids were built by slaves. They had to be constantly watched and reprimanded for nonperformance. the disadvantages of fear motivation are :-

* It is external, which means the motivation is there while the motivator is there. When the motivator goes, the motivations also goes.  

..It causes stress. Performance is limited to compliance. 
..In the long run, performance goes down. It destroys creativity.
..They get used to the stick and than need  a bigger stick.

A  customer asked and employee, " When did you start working here?" He replied, "Ever since they threatened to fire me."

Incentive Motivation 

External motivation can also tack the form of incentive, bonuses, commission, recognition, etc. 
What are the advantages of incentive motivation ? The major advantage is that it can work very well as long as the incentive is strong enough. Think of a donkey with a carrot dangling in front and with a cart behind. Incentive motivation well only work if the donkey is hungry enough, the carrot is sweet enough and the load is light enough. 

From time to time, you have to let the donkey take a bite of the carrot; otherwise it is going to get discouraged. After the donkey takes a bite a bite, its stomach is full, and you need to wait for the donkey to get hungry again before it will pull the cart. This is typically seen in our business environment. The moment sales people meet their quota, they stop working. This is because their motivation is limited to meeting their quota. That is external, not internal.





DIFFERENT THINGS MOTIVATE DIFFERENT PEOPLE

Internal motivation comes from within, such as pride, a sense of achievement responsibility and belief. There was  a young boy who used to come for regular practice but always played in the reserves and never made it to the soccer eleven. While has was practicing , his father used to sit at the far end, waiting him.

The matches had started and for four days, he didn't show up for practice or the quarter or semifinals. All of a sudden he showed up for the finals, went to the coach and said, " Coach, you have always kept me in the reserves and never let me playin the finals. But today, please let me play." The coach said," Son, I'm sorry, I can't let you.

There are better players than you and besides, it is the finals, the reputation of the school is at stake and I cannot take a chance. " You boy pleaded, " Coach, I promise I will not let you down. I beg of you, please let me play. "The coach had never seen the boy plead like this before. He said, " ok , Son ,go, play. But remember , I am going against my better judgment  and the reputation of the school is at stake. Don't let me down." 

The game started and the boy played like a house on fire. Every time he got the ball, he shot a goal. Needless to say, he was the best player and the star of the game. His team had a spectacular win. When the game finished , the coach went up to him and  said, " Son, how could I have been so wrong in my life. I have never seen you play like this before. What happened? 

How did you play so well ? " The boy replied , "Coach , my father is watching me today."  The coach turned around and looked at the place where the boy's father used to sit. There was no one there. He said, " Son, your father used to sit there when you came for practice, but I don't see anyone there today. " The boy replied "Coach ,there is something I never told you. my father was blind. Just four days ago, he died. Today is the first day he is watching me from above."