What drives you to get off that couch and out the door?
How do you stop eating those donuts, when you want to start that diet you have been meaning to? How do you start that difficult conversation with the challenging person in your office? Start exercising, when you know you should but don't want to?
So much of this kind of situation revolves around motivation. How do you get motivated to do something hard? Can you motivate yourself to do something, regardless of how hard it is? Is internal or external motivation better?
A key ingredient of achieving anything is motivating yourself. So today's podcast is on that very topic:
- The neuroscience behind the physiological and psychological process
- The 3 phases of being motivated
- Some of the inhibitors and enablers of motivation
- A simple 4-step framework to use to motivate yourself
Summary of Key Points:
- Motivation is what drives and sustains a person toward a goal. Motivation is the strength of the desire to attain a particular outcome or goal, irrespective of how pleasant or unpleasant the experience of actually attaining it is.
- Motivation involves the reward circuits in the brain. Dopamine neurons in the mid-brain signal a reward prediction, which lets us predict – and take actions to increase – the probability of receiving a reward in the future.
- Rewards reinforce behaviour. If we perform a behaviour that is positively rewarded, the motivation to do it again increase.
Some Considerations on how our brain uses Dopamine;
- Risk/reward - Because the brain is based around risk/reward, we are motivated to do things that are considered rewarding and to not do things that are considered damaging, risky or a punishment.
- Tagged for importance - When a particular behavior in a given context it is rewarded, that behavior and context are paired and tagged with reward value for later repetition
- Baseline - We have a baseline of dopamine at any given time (otherwise we wouldn’t be driven to do anything)
- Expectation Principle - is important to know that motivation is in part due to the difference between expectation and reality. We form predictions about the reward and we use that to make decisions about what to do.
- If the reward is expected, you have less dopamine released.
- If you don’t achieve their expected goal, then your dopamine levels (and therefore motivation) crash
- If the reward Is greater than expected, you get more.
- If a reward is completely unexpected (say from something new that you weren’t planning) you get even more dopamine.
Things that Demotivate Us
- Unrealistic expectations
- Too many layers of Dopamine drivers
- Too much detailed visualization
Factors that Can Manipulate/Improve Motivation
- Positive self talk
- Focusing
- Taking action
- Some stimulants or medications
- Our thoughts
- Autonomous choice
- Behaviour modification, like visualization
- Social affiliation
How to Action This Information
- Step 1: Figure out your go
Instantly Unlock Performance, Well-Being and Balance Now
The "Thrive Hive" is a monthly membership to help teach, coach and support individuals, organizational teams and their leaders in reaching their full potential, and living a flourishing life with balance and well-being.
You get access to group coaching, monthly education, webinars/livecasts and other events, topic-based support and tools, and access to a private community of other like-minded individuals.
You can find out more or sign up clicking here!
