What is the one vital component that everyone needs to do a good job? It is motivation. Motivation is what helps us to perform well at whatever we do.
But, though everyone has some kind of idea about motivation, it means something different for each and every one of us. For some of us, motivation is simply a good work. For some, motivation is merely the realization or understanding that a particular work has to be done on time. For some others, the monetary returns or other incentives could be motivation enough to do a good job.
It is because of the varied meanings of motivation that leaders find it somewhat difficult to extract an equal amount of work from everyone.
It is because of the different implications of motivation that teachers and soccer coaches cannot make everyone perform in the same manner. Our motivation levels are different, and our motivators themselves are different too.
If you are trying to bring out the best from your team, then you should first learn to be a great motivator. You have to think about your team, you have to think that they are contributing towards progress, in whatever way they can. A good word of motivation could them reach where they want to go.
- 7 -
Motivation is for self as well. You have to keep yourself motivated to do various things. It could be any professional incentive, or a family objective, or a personal perk that might motivate you into doing something. Whatever it takes, you have to inculcate the value of inspiring other people within you.
- 8 -
If one were to answer that in one word, it would be drive. The single most important factor that helps us achieve our goals is motivation or drive. It is an energy-rich interest in getting a job done and achieving the ends set. Motivation is the “oomph” in the effort that makes one person go the extra mile, while many others give up and retire without even trying.
It does not matter in what situation you apply this. Motivation is the key that makes the difference between winning and losing.
Motivation plays an important role in everybody’s life, both in their personal life and also in their professional life.
So what motivates us? Moreover, does the same factor motivate all and sundry? The answer to that is an emphatic no! Different people react to different stimuli. Even the same person will react differently to a given stimulus at different points of his or her life.
The other thing to note is that motivation is self-propelling. Once you achieve a set of goals, you will be motivated to set another set of goals, possibly more difficult as if you are challenging yourself or raising the bar. Or, there could be periods of lull when you are down and need a recharge of your batteries to get going again.
While motivation is generally considered for human beings, it is possible to also motivate an animal as well. Take the example of a dog. How do you teach it tricks? By rewarding it every time it fetches, begs or rolls over! What is this if not the very basic form of motivating?
- 9 -
How does one motivate students to do well in an exam? This can be intrinsic or extrinsic. It is intrinsic if the students believe that they are capable of acing an exam and thereby put in the required efforts. Or, if they happen to be “into” the subject that it is something of a passion and they are genuinely interested in accumulating more knowledge about the subject, then they are achieve to do a better job as well.
It could also be extrinsic motivation, if they are doing it because they know that they will be rewarded with a prize that they value if they get good scores. A teenager could well be motivated to do well in his GRE
or GMAT scores if he is keen to get away from family and live independently in some foreign university.
There are different kinds of motivation, and it works differently for different people. What may motivate one person may mean nothing for another. For instance, for a movie-lover, getting a free ticket for the latest James Cameron flick could be a great incentive. But that may mean nothing to a person who doesn’t have any interest in movies.
Motivation also changes with age. When we are younger, there are different things that motivate us. As we grow older, most of these things, such as new toys, do not mean anything to us. They cannot incite us to do any job in a better way.
However, our childhood motivations are replaced by new, more refined, ones. For a child, a Batman figure could be great motivation, but when he becomes a youth, maybe he wants a new bike. When he becomes an adult, maybe getting a new house is motivation. Or, maybe he just wants the Batman figure still, but that’s quite a different story!
-10-
Motivation can be need-based. Man is motivated by the need to remove physical discomfort and increase physical pleasure. According to Maslow’s theory of wants, humans have wants and desires that motivate and guide their behavior.
These needs follow a typical hierarchy with the basic ones being at the base of the triangle and then progressively getting more complex and sophisticated.
People move up the triangle as their needs get settled. So, beginning with wanting to satisfy your hunger, thirst, sleep and sexual needs, you move up to looking after your safety and security.
Only then are you motivated by love, friendship and relationships.
After this comes the need for recognition and achievement and it is followed lastly by the need for self-actualization.
-11-
How Does Motivating Others Help Us?
