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8 Different Methods of Motivation to Supercharge Your Life

If we’re honest, most of us have a pretty good idea about what it takes to live life well — develop healthy habits, keep a positive attitude, put in the work, etc. And yet, only a few people actually get through with it.

There is a gaping chasm between dreaming about doing something and actually doing it and it’s exactly where most people blunder. It’s a story familiar to many — you are excited to get started, you do the work, but then that initial excitement fades and you end up finishing nothing. And so comes the familiar question: what does it take to keep motivation going?

After years of formal study on motivation, science has learned 3 things:

  • Attempts to motivate yourself or others don’t always succeed
  • Strategies that make sense in theory don’t often hold up in real life
  • You are much more likely to motivate someone if you understand what they need and go from there

In an attempt to try to answer the question of how to sustain motivation, this article delves into the available research over the years to identify different methods of motivation strategies that you can apply to your own goals and challenges.

Motivational Strategy #1: Satisfy psychological needs first

According to the Self-Determination Theory, our behavior is often driven by different psychological needs. To effectively motivate ourselves, we must address these basic needs first. Drawing from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and Hull's Drive Theory of Needs, a person seeking motivation should aim to satisfy the following needs:

  • The need for affiliation (to feel connected to others)
  • The need for power (to feel in control)
  • The need for cognition (to know and understand)
  • The need for achievement (to feel successful)
  • The need for autonomy (to have a sense of choice and independence)
  • The need for competence (to feel capable and effective)
  • The need for closure (to find clarity and resolution)
  • The need for meaning (to have a sense of purpose)
  • The need for self-esteem (to feel valued and respected)

Satisfying these basic psychological needs first helps create the right mindset for staying motivated and engaged over the long run. Here are some practical things you can do to satisfy each of these psychological needs.

Tips on how to feel connected to others (need for affiliation):
 - Make time for friends, family, social activities
 - Join a club, team, or community group
  - Nurture close relationships (call or meet regularly)
 - Actively listen when others speak

Tips on how to feel in control (need for power):
  - Take on leadership roles when possible
 - Learn skills that give you more control (time management, negotiation, etc.)
 - Make your own choices instead of going with the flow
 - Set boundaries to protect your autonomy

Tips on how to know and understand (need for cognition):
  - Read, take courses, attend lectures on topics of interest
 - Seek out opportunities to learn new skills
 - Ask questions and have intellectual discussions
 - Do puzzles, brain teasers, or other cognitive exercises

Tips on how to feel successful (need for achievement):
 - Set challenging yet attainable goals
 - Recognize small wins along the way
 - Learn from setbacks rather than feeling defeated
 - Compete with yourself to hit personal bests

Tips on how to feel independent (need for autonomy):
 - Carve out "me time" to pursue personal interests
 - Don't over-schedule - leave room for spontaneity
 - Work for yourself or negotiate work boundaries
 - Make your own choices on issues that impact you

Tips on how to feel capable and effective (need for competence):
 - Invest in skills training related to tasks you value
 - Break big goals into manageable steps to stay motivated
 - Seek out constructive feedback to improve
 - Celebrate efforts as well as successes

Tips on how to find clarity and resolution (need for closure):
 - Follow processes and routines to their logical conclusions
 - When faced with ambiguity, ask clarifying questions
 - Make decisions after contemplating all angles
 - Establish exit criteria for goals/projects

Tips on how to find/feel a sense of purpose (need for meaning):
 - Connect your efforts to a bigger purpose
 - Volunteer or get involved with causes you care about
 - Identify your core values and live by them
 - Reflect on how you want to have impact

Tips on how to feel valued and respected (need for self-esteem):
 - Celebrate accomplishments, don't dismiss them
 - Identify and build on your strengths
 - Be kind to yourself - avoid harsh self-criticism
 - Seek respect in your relationships and treatment

The key is being intentional about fulfilling each of these needs in your daily life through your actions, choices, and environments.

Motivation Strategy #2: Use Emotion as Feedback

The emotions we feel towards certain activities can strongly drive us to do them or avoid them. Realizing this, we can deliberately take part in activities that stir up positive emotions - this is called emotional regulation.

Some healthy ways to regulate emotions include:

  • Meditation (becoming more aware of your emotions)
  • Therapy (working through emotions with a professional)
  • Talking about feelings with close, trusted friends
  • Journaling (reflecting on and expressing emotions)
  • Taking breaks when needed (allowing yourself to recharge)

By actively managing your emotions in a positive way, you can use their motivating power. This creates an upbeat emotional state that helps you sustain your efforts over time.

Motivation Strategy #3: Learn Self-Control

Self-control is the ability to resist short-term temptations in order to achieve long-term goals. Having good self-control helps one stay motivated because you can stick to your objectives without getting derailed.

Developing better self-control takes work, but it allows you to independently pursue what you want to accomplish in a sustainable way. Building self-control requires willpower, but you can strengthen it through:

  • Eating nutritious foods to fuel your mind and body
  • Practicing self-control regularly, just like exercising a muscle
  • Managing your emotions, which can undermine your self-control
  • Meeting your basic psychological needs to create the right mindset

When you improve your self-control, you can avoid distractions and tempting shortcuts more easily. This allows you to concentrate on your long-term goals and keep your motivation consistent over time.

Motivation Strategy #4: Change Your Environment

Instead of just focusing on internal factors like motivation or emotions, this strategy looks at changing the external factors that impact those feelings. Here are some ways to shape your environment to help sustain your motivation:

  • Spend time with people who inspire and motivate you
  • Be mindful of what media you take in, choosing uplifting and motivating content
  • Do activities that give you a mental and emotional break, so you can return to challenges feeling refreshed

By carefully managing your surroundings and what influences you allow in, you can create an environment that boosts your motivation and supports reaching your goals.

Related: 260 Quotes about Goal-Setting, Motivation & Success to Help You Achieve Your Goals in 2024

Motivation Strategy #5: Keep Things Challenging

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's "flow" theory says we feel most engaged and motivated when working on tasks that are challenging enough to keep us focused, but not so hard that we become overwhelmed.

By continuously seeking activities at this ideal level of difficulty, we can sustain a state of high motivation and engagement.

In other words, if a task is too easy, we get bored and unmotivated. But if it's too difficult, we get frustrated and give up. The sweet spot is pursuing challenges that stretch our abilities while still feeling achievable.

Motivation Strategy #6: Use Feedback

Having an accountability partner can help in two important ways: they can encourage you to keep going when you face obstacles, and they can advise you on the best way to move forward. 

Research shows that if you have an accountability partner that you trust and respect, you're more likely to stay on track because you don't want to let them down.

In simple terms, an accountability partner motivates you by providing supportive nudges and helpful guidance. Their influence makes you more committed since you want to follow through for them.

Motivation Strategy #7: Face the Negative Emotion Instead of Avoiding It

In the book "Indistractable," Nir Eyal says motivation stems from the uncomfortable feeling of wanting something. People often get distracted as a way to avoid dealing with that discomfort. However, Eyal recommends paying close attention to the emotion that comes before getting distracted, and fully feeling that emotion instead of avoiding it. 

By allowing yourself to feel and examine the emotion curiously, rather than suppressing or distracting from it, you can let it dissipate naturally and regain control over your motivation.

In simple terms - don't run from uncomfortable emotions that make you want to procrastinate. Lean into them with curiosity until they lose their power over you. This helps get your motivation back on track.

Motivation Strategy #8: Have a Plan

While willpower is certainly important for motivation, constantly having to use sheer force of will can quickly become draining. This is where having a clear plan comes in - it provides a roadmap that makes sustaining your motivation more manageable.

With a solid plan, you don't have to expend as much mental energy deciding what to do next. The steps are already laid out. This removes many of the moment-to-moment choices that can quickly sap your limited willpower reserves.

A plan helps you break down big goals into specific, actionable steps. This makes the tasks feel more achievable compared to a huge, daunting objective looming ahead. You can make consistent progress, which breeds motivating feelings of accomplishment.

Thankfully planning for the future is one thing that’s easily done these days. Keep a journal to slowly track your progress over time or use goal management apps like TaskSpur to stay on top of your life.

How to sustain motivation with the RRR method

While having a solid plan is important, simply making the plan isn't enough to sustain your motivation long-term. That's where the RRR method comes in - it provides a systematic way to turn your planned actions into ingrained habits and rituals.

RRR stands for

Reminders - Keeping your plan top-of-mind through environmental and routine reminders. Post notes, set alerts, or leave visual cues to remind you of the actions you need to take.

Repetition - Consistently repeating the planned actions, no matter how small. Repetition is the key to building any habit. Each repetition reinforces the neural pathways.

Ritual - With enough repetition, the desired actions become rituals that are integrated into your normal routines. You follow through automatically without constant reliance on willpower.

This method works by first making your plan omnipresent through reminders. This cues you to repeat the planned actions consistently. Eventually, the repetition leads to the behavior becoming second nature - a ritual you do without having to summon motivation each time.

By using the RRR method to turn your plan into internalized habits, you remove much of the motivational drain of constantly needing to make active choices. The actions are simply woven into the fabric of your daily life.

Final Word

Motivation works best when it's connected to results that truly matter to you. Additionally, tailoring motivation techniques to your personal drivers and feelings can make them even more powerful. By using a combination of different motivation strategies, you can develop a lasting motivated state that helps you accomplish your long-term goals.

References

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