Components of Motivation

In our quest to be internally motivated, eventually, we have to ask ourselves the following question: what is it that makes us motivated in the first place? What are the components of motivation?

Sit down with yourself and think about the last time you were really motivated to do something. Think about how fired up you were and try to analyze what actually got you there.

The exercise for this is to physically sit down and write out a page about the last time you were highly motivated to do something. This allows you to get your thoughts on paper which in turn allows you to analyze your own thoughts from a third person perspective.

Once your written ideas are on the page, they are no longer in your head. Now instead of working our thoughts and theories in your mind, you can analyze them like a scientist. That is an exercise you can do with almost anything. If you are ever in a situation where you want to learn more about yourself and your own thought process, write it all out on a page and analyze it from an outside perspective. 

Once you have written out an account of the last time you were motivated, start analyzing it. What were the factors that you think caused you to be motivated? What thoughts, sights, sounds or smells cause you to be motivated? Identify these factors. Many people get motivated to go to the gym when they can smell the steel and iron, when they hear the loud clanging weights, or when they see pictures of fitness magazines or see other people working out, or when they feel the weight in their hands. Whatever it is, often where are motivated by some sort of sensation in one of our senses.

That sensory information can combine with our thinking to create an even more motivated state. We become more and more motivated and our thoughts create a positive loop in our minds. This is one of the most enjoyable states that life has to offer us. 

Common Components of Motivation

I will only give you a handful of the components because I want you to think for yourself about what makes you motivated and about other possible components of motivation.

I – Having an Enemy

For many people, myself included, there is nothing more stimulating than a little friendly opposition, or even some unfriendly opposition. When someone decides they want to engage in some sort of aggressive behavior with you and go to war, it fires them up. This experience has been identified by everyone from Jocko Willink to Robert Greene.

Human beings were built to withstand and even improve when in situations of conflict. It does not necessarily have to be a conflict with another person, it can be with some generic institution or even ideals that you find abhorrent. Whatever it is, find yourself an enemy. There are very few things more motivating for a man than to have something to fight against. We were built to face resistance and use it to make us better. Yet in the modern world, why is it that we shirk away from that resistance? Resistance makes us alive. 

II – Combination of Sights, Sounds, and Thoughts

Think about what goes into making a motivational video. There are images that flash across your screen, these are designed to give you a perfect picture of the end result. Then there are the sounds – usually the sound of motivational music. You do not have to be told how motivating music can be. If it is not music then you will hear some other sound effects, but try to pick out the ones that are most motivating to you. Then there often is a series of motivational words in the background. The spoken word is powerful and can cause men to go into action. 

It is the combination of each of these factors in a particular ratio that leads to motivation. Try to sit down and figure out which particular motivation videoes fire you up the most. If you can identify these, you can start practicing playing these videos (or elements of them) in your mind when you need to feel motivated. It is not always as powerful as the real thing, but can still be an effective tool.

Learn to motivate yourself by playing movies in your mind that have a combination of those sights, sounds, and words that you find most inspirational. The more you practice visualization, the better you will get at it – it is a skill for you to train.

III – Group Competition

People become highly motivated when they participate in sports or other group activities. People can feed off of the positive energy of each other. This is a useful tool. Learn how to become inspired by being around other people who are inspirational. Allow yourself to take their energy and become focused – motivation is contagious. 

All in all, you have to determine what is motivating for you personally. Motivation is an individual thing. Everyone has their own goals and dreams that fire them up. You have to cultivate your own and not look to anyone else’s.

I spent many years unmotivated because I was trying to be motivated for the goals of others. I am not motivated by the hustle culture, even though I am certainly a proponent of hard work. But I cannot relate to whatever desire for results those people are feeling. And that is fine. We each have to concentrate only on those things which we have a natural talent for, a natural enjoyment for, and that we can become better at and use to become marketable.

If we chase the dreams of others, we will always be unfulfilled and unmotivated, never achieving the level of success we could if we were making the best use of our talents.

There is a purpose for each person in the world, and that purpose requires its own distinct level of motivation. Find what motivates you, determine the components of motivation, and use it to your advantage.