So much has been said about motivation. The differentiation between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. That people are guided by 3 universal desires, namely power, achievement and affiliation. That adolescents feel a fire 🔥 burning in their souls when they acknowledge that an assigned task is important and feel confident to tackle it.
If we don’t get our minds bogged down by the above theories, how does motivation play out in your life though? I think motivation is intertwined with our self-identity.
Take my wife for instance. She feels compelled to provide home-cooked meals for her family. This has led to the consolidation of an infallible routine in our lives. Every Saturday, we go grocery shopping, and every Sunday, she spends the entire day whipping up one week’s worth of dishes. In case you are wondering, she then stores the food in admittedly nice-looking Tupperware containers in our fridge. She has a workhorse-like ethics when it comes to this. Very indefatigable.
As for me, I want to make it as a freelance writer. Carving out a distinctive space other than my identities as a teacher and a parent. So, for the past three months, I have been posting consistently on my blog. As you may know, Google Adsense pays peanuts, but nonetheless, I am determined to go through the grind because I attribute profound meaning to this struggle. Last month, I managed to rake in more than two dollars for my blog. Looking forward to beating my personal best this month.
How about you? What keeps you going? Do you need midpoint or milestone checks to recenter yourself and keep going? Or do you wake up every morning, just raring to go like an Energiser Bunny?
Pray tell, where is your fountain of motivation?
Gonna end this with my favourite Japanese proverb: “継続は力なり” (Keizoku ha chikara nari). In English, we say ”continuance is strength”.