Fear Versus Dreams

F E A R is an emotion induced by perceived danger or punishment, which ultimately causes behavioural changes. It can be a source of motivation, but it's generally not an effective or sustainable motivator. It’s the sort of motivation that gets you to quit smoking because you’ve witnessed someone struggle with cancer.

But of course, not every motivation needs to be so dramatic or frightening.

On the other hand, positive motivation comes from an internal drive to seek out pleasure, O U R  D R E A M S. So we’re more likely to act when the results of an action have a direct impact on one of our wants or needs – like the need to feel good about ourselves.

We can create positive motivation by either reminding ourselves of the benefits of completing certain action steps (e.g. the additional money saved by cycling to work instead of driving) or by setting up rewards for yourself for completing something (e.g. the item you will buy with the money saved on fuel). It’s basically the equivalent of establishing ‘personal carrots’ and focusing on those carrots as you go about your daily activities. Perhaps visualising a leaner, more energised version of yourself could push you to get up and exercise in the morning?!

“Ability is what you’re capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it.” – Lou Holtz

At the end of the day, we are all unique and our attitudes can vary day to day, week to week, month to month. Most of us are best motivated when there is a little bit of reward but also a justified amount of ‘punishment’ for doing, or failing to do, something… Like skipping dessert because you didn’t manage your 30 mins move goal that day. 

So the key is to take the time to understand yourself, what drives you and set up a system of rewards and, if necessary, punishments that will propel you to act and ultimately, realise your dreams.