What Is Motivation?

Motivation is the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what helps you lose extra weight, for instance, or pushes you to get that promotion at work. In short, motivation causes you to act in a way that gets you closer to your goals.

In everyday usage, the term "motivation" is frequently used to describe why a person does something. It is the driving force behind human actions. Motivation includes the biological, emotional, social and cognitive forces that activate human behavior.

Types of Motivation

The two main types of motivation are frequently described as being either extrinsic or intrinsic.

• Extrinsic motivation arises from outside of the individual and often involves external rewards such as trophies, money, social recognition, or praise.

• Intrinsic motivation is internal and arises from within the individual, such as doing a complicated crossword puzzle purely for the gratification of solving a problem.

Components of Motivation

• Activation is the decision to initiate a behavior. An example of activation would be enrolling in psychology courses in order to earn your degree.

• Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. An example of persistence would be showing up for your psychology class even though you are tired from staying up late the night before.

• Intensity is the concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal. For example, one student might coast by without much effort (minimal intensity) while another student studies regularly, participates in classroom discussions, and takes advantage of research opportunities outside of class (greater intensity).

Causes of Low Motivation

There are a few things you should watch for that might hurt or inhibit your motivation levels. These include:

• All-or-nothing thinking: If you think that you must be absolutely perfect when trying to reach your goal or there is no point in trying, one small slip-up or relapse can zap your motivation to keep pushing forward.

• Believing in quick fixes: It's easy to feel unmotivated if you can't reach your goal immediately but reaching goals often takes time.

• Thinking that one size fits all: Just because an approach or method worked for someone else does not mean that it will work for you. If you don't feel motivated to pursue your goals, look for other things that will work better for you.

Conclusion

Understanding motivation is important in many areas of life beyond psychology, from parenting to the workplace. You may want to set the best goals and establish the right reward systems to motivate others as well as to increase your own motivation.

Source: https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-motivation-2795378

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