We’re getting close to that time of year when we reflect on the past 12 months and start to think about plans for the year ahead.
Often this involves making some form of New Year’s resolution, made with the best intentions but, if we’re honest with ourselves, very rarely followed through. How many annual gym memberships are only used for the month of January?
One of the keys to ensuring that resolutions are followed through is having the right level and type of motivation. Broadly speaking, there are two type of motivation – intrinsic and extrinsic.
As the name implies, intrinsic motivation comes from us. It comes from the enjoyment and fulfilment we get personally from any particular activity. For example, those that follow the pastime of fishing have an intrinsic motivation to spend all night by a lake sat out in the cold for most weekends during the fishing season.
Conversely, extrinsic motivation comes from factors outside us; these might be things like social status, fame and wealth or material achievement. So, with a large tax bill looming, there may be a motivation to work harder to generate additional fees or commission in order to pay it.
Readers will probably recognise that when they are motivated purely intrinsically it’s easier to stick to a resolution. When the motivation is extrinsic, things become a bit more problematic.
If you take the example of someone wanting to give up smoking, their motivation is to please their partner and children who keep encouraging/nagging them to give up (extrinsic motives).
On the other hand, they really enjoy smoking (intrinsic motive) and therefore struggle to give up. Already we notice the conflict between the two types of motivation and the stronger one usually wins.
I’d argue that those people who do manage to give up smoking are those who for whatever reason are doing it for themselves (intrinsically) not because of external pressures.
The reality is many of us will be contemplating resolutions that will benefit our business or professional life and therefore the driving forces behind these will be extrinsic. We can further break these down into moving towards or moving away motivations.
A moving towards motivation is one where there is some form of pleasure or reward for achieving the end goal e.g. working harder to earn more money, achieve a promotion etc.
Moving away is simply the opposite – avoiding pain, discomfort or fear, such as being told you now have to pass a series of exams otherwise you won’t be able to stay in business.
For all of us, we’ll be motivated best at different times and for different goals by either moving toward or moving away motivations.
As an exercise I’d encourage everyone to take a little time for self-reflection (maybe do this with a trusted friend, colleague or coach). Examine some of your past achievements, when things have gone well and when things didn’t go according to plan. Ask yourself what motivated you to achieve and what wasn’t motivational (make a list if that helps you). You’ll quickly get some strong signals on the sorts of things that do and don’t get you motivated. Some will be intrinsic and others will be moving towards or moving away motivators (extrinsic).
Having an understanding of what motivates you best in certain circumstances will be really powerful when setting yourself goals and objectives. You’ll know why you’re doing them and what things will encourage you to achieve your goals. This will also help you filter out the things you ‘think’ or ‘feel’ you should be doing, but in reality never will because deep down you’re not motivated to do so anyway.
So, here are a few tips to ensure you keep to those New Year’s resolutions:
– Work out why you’re setting yourself the objective – how important is it to your overall ‘big picture’
– Only take on something if you believe you can do it
– Link your resolution if you can to something intrinsic – something you personally derive enjoyment and fulfilment from
– For extrinsic motivation, work out what works best for you in what situation – moving toward or moving away
– A tip from sports science is to regularly visualise what the world will look, sound and feel like to you once your goal has been achieved (try doing this at least three times a day). If the exercise makes you feel good, it’s working
So, once you’ve worked out what needs doing, you know it needs to be done and you’re motivated to do it, why not go public with it? Make yourself as publicly accountable as possible. Tell friends, colleagues and the people you like and respect what it is you’re going to do or stop doing.
This has a two-fold effect of gaining their encouragement and support but also making you publicly accountable for your actions.
Most people’s New Year’s resolutions are simply gestures, however by following the course of action above, they can be real goals that once achieved will make a considerable difference to both your business and personal life.
Peter Welch is head of sales and distribution at Bridgewater Equity Release
