Motivation and Habit Formation
Hello, wonderful Positivity & Gratitude Community! I hope all of you are doing well. 
Motivation is the process by which activities are started, directed, and continued so that physical or psychological needs or wants are met. A very basic example to illustrate motivation - hunger. The physical need for satisfying hunger causes the action (getting up), direct it (by going to the kitchen) and sustain the search (by looking for food or preparing the food). There are mainly two types of motivation: extrinsic and intrinsic. When a person has an extrinsic motivation, the activity to be done is driven by an external reward of some sort (or in some cases, could mean avoidance of an unpleasant experience if the required activity is not done. example, being afraid of not doing homework because your teacher will scold you). Intrinsic motivation is when a person wants to do an activity or task because they personally find it fun, challenging, interesting or satisfying on some personal level. Both of these types can vary with their intensity as well as their effectiveness.
Abraham Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs proposed that in order to attain the highest level of personality fulfilment, a person must strive to meet several levels of needs, meaning that there are a set of basic needs a person must fulfil before being able to attain the higher needs of self-actualization and transcendence. This is illustrated in the form of a pyramid, he said that people move up the pyramid as they go through life, gaining wisdom, learning from their experiences and forming new stronger beliefs system as they progress. It’s very natural to move up and down in this pyramid, Maslow even says that a person should strive to achieve peak experiences (time in a person’s life when self-actualization is achieved) again and again, as it does not stay constant for long depending on an individual’s life. @Starmedia in their forum post on the topic Self-actualization beautifully and articulately explains to us the characteristics of self-actualized people, it’s worth giving a read! How this is related to motivation would be a good question to ask. Just like Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are various theories given by theorists which have been modified and worked on so that now we know the dynamics between internal motives and environmental threats and opportunities. There are indeed a lot of aspects to motivation, and this theory has been offered critique and even challenged, however, these have helped us to draw much better conclusions for understanding the psychology of motivation. Here’s a diagram to illustrate the pyramid in discussion:
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How can we feel motivated more often/make it a habit so that we can achieve our goals:
1. Have a ritual that triggers the habit you want to cultivate rather than focusing on doing the thing you want to become a habit. James Clear in his article Motivation: The Scientific Guide talks about how just a certain activity can act as a trigger to the desired action we need to take. He talks about how a single small activity can help you habitualize the habit you want to keep. For example, if you want to write consistently, you can set up a ritual where you either light up some candles, or listen to some kind of music, or maybe making a cup of coffee/tea is your ritual to get started with writing. This takes away the burden of “how do I get started?” because the ritual will be your starting point, it means you’ve already started doing what you needed to do.
2. Move around a little. A lack of motivation is often linked with a lack of physical movement. When you move around, you are already indicating to your body that you’re about to do something, there is going to be some change in your current action (not doing the work you need to do) and now you will be transitioning to something you need to do. Just the sheer shift in the movement can help you transition into the action you want to make a habit, easily.
3. Now we just need to make a system of this ritual. Every day or according to your desired time preference, we need to make sure the triggers are set in place. As soon as we have the trigger, we now know what it means: to do the thing we want. It becomes easy because it saves us willpower by already having pre-formed decisions, all you need to do is just do.
In no means, this is an easy thing to do. We may struggle for keeping the motivation for long but what matters is you will be starting somewhere. You may find yourself feeling unmotivated and not wanting to continue with the ritual, with the habit but just know that at least you tried! You did not give in to a momentary feeling of not wanting to do anything which is really a huge step and I honestly appreciate it if you keep trying to do better. We all learn and improve this way, by noticing the patterns, analyzing where we could have done better and then experimenting some more!
Question. What habits are you planning to make and what can be the possible triggers to get you started? Let us know by replying to this thread!
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Thanks for another great post Lumi!
I love the idea of rituals, it's a good point about it making things easier because you always have a starting point.
One little trick I use for motivation is a countdown. It's really easy to put small things off for minutes or hours, when they could easily be done and then you wouldn't have to think about them any more, for example washing the dishes, sending on email, getting ready for bed. When there's something like this to be done I give myself a countdown. I count down from 5 or 10 and by the time i reach one I have to be moving/ taking the first step to getting the job done.
@Gozzil
thank you for reading it, Gozzil!
I agree, creating rituals is fabulous because you always have a starting point, it helps you in getting in the zone for the thing that you need to do. thanks for sharing about your personal trick! I will definitely try it out myself. I think I have read about this somewhere, I am thinking of Mel Robbins 5 second rule, where you count to five and just go and do what you're supposed to do. it's a great help to get started because it gives you an illusion that you took the time you thought you needed (5 or 10 seconds) and then you just have to do it! I am glad you shared with us today. I hope you're having a good day!
@lumieremilkyway
Dear Lumie:
Congratulations for your great article ! Relevant, useful, and based on solid, scientific research.
The main habits I want to establish now are exercising, reading/studying, drawing/painting, and studying the piano. Consistently and systematically (not just now and then).
Triggers and rituals I use are typically preparing the set up for the activity in question, without committing to doing it.
Could be getting dressed for exercising, organizing the desk, with materials and tools for drawing or painting, opening the piano, placing the sheet music, and the right lighting to play, or likewise setting up the perfect conditions to study/read a book.
Once these preparations become habitual, it’s like setting the table for dinner, I do it mechanically, without thinking much. They demand little or no willpower.
But once a setup is in place, it makes it much easier to take the next step.
Then, I apply another trick, that is, committing only a very short time. “I promise myself that I will play (draw/exercise…) for 5 minutes”. That again requires little willpower. It’s just 5 minutes ! Who can’t commit to doing something for 5 minutes ? Of course, once the 5 minutes have finished and I am free to stop, it is easy to continue for at least another 20 minutes. What in some cases can become one to three hours…
The other trick is allocating time for the activity. Like “The next hour can only be used for reading (exercising/drawing/playing, etc)”. I am allowed to sit there with the book for an hour and not read it (just the 5 obligatory minutes). But I can’t do anything else. Or I stay one hour with my pencils, committed to drawing for 5 minutes, and the rest I can just doodle, or do nothing.
The general idea is to take small steps, each one very easy, committing only to the minimum. These insignificant steps are finally conducive to the complete activity. Manipulating myself, like a skillful salesman that convinces you to buy that expensive thing you were not willing to buy at the start.
In my experience, I need a lot of willpower and motivation to establish a new habit (or stop a bad one). But once the habit has been established, I don’t need as much “psychological energy” to do the action. For example, if I am very motivated to improve my physical condition, I apply some willpower (I force myself) to exercise daily. After some time (say, a month), it has become a habit, something I do because “it’s the way I do things”. In some cases, I might even feel the need to do it.
I have found, though, that my habits don’t last forever. Some significant disruption in my life, that can be even a very positive one, like a long trip, a demanding project, or a new passion or hobby, might stop the continuity of a habit, though getting back is not as tough as it was establishing it in the first place.
Thank you again for this opportunity to reflect on such a key issue for having a satisfying life !
Marcelo.
@WelcomeToChat
Dear Marcelo, thanks for reading this post!
Laying out the different habits you're trying to consistently and systematically try to focus on is the first step and I am glad you shared with us about yours! Indeed, I love the way you've summarized the idea of this post. Once you familiarize yourself with the rituals, you start doing them automatically and doesn't require many thoughts, because you mainly need to get doing.
I love your addition! Promising yourself that you will do a certain activity for just 5 minutes helps in taking off some pressure that you have to sit through the entire activity even though you may not be in the zone for doing it. Once you get started, it can usually help us last for longer because the main struggle which was to just start is out of the way! The other trick you mentioned is really fantastic! By committing to doing only a certain task for a set time (whether or not you really do it) is really helpful because I have found myself switching activities and ending up being unproductive. Doing things that are at least in some way related to the thing that you want to do will help you more likely doing it. hehe yes, I love reading through your answer because you use the perfect link between things that help in delivering your point across much better.
Once you develop a habit, it's not hard to follow through and saves a lot of mental energy, I agree. In the beginning, we do have to apply some willpower but with time it becomes more incorporated as something we just do daily or whenever the time permits. And once it does become something we're familiar with, we may even feel the need to do it. Some disruptions or distractions in real life are inevitable. But yes, I think getting back to the habit after a break once you've already established it isn't as hard as it was to form it. I am glad I could help you reflect over this, I am super happy to have you share your reflection with us!
@lumieremilkyway
Dear Lumie:
Thank you for your thorough and careful analysis of my answer !
You put effort into it.
It shows much care and consideration.
I greatly appreciate that.
Marcelo.