You’ve heard the old adage that success is 90% mindset and 10% action. Because of that, it is important to understand what drives someone. People always tell you to chase your “why” – to identify what your why is. People are always focused on the “why”. The problem with that is they only focus on the “surface level” of the why. They don’t go as deep as it needs to. Because if your why doesn’t make you cry then your “how” is always going to matter. And that’s where the distractions come in. When your why comes from deep within, you understand what your true motivating factors are, and your why makes you cry, then the how will never truly matter.
When it comes to motivation it’s also important to know that we are driven based on programming and wiring. So many people have a program that conflicts with what it is they want to accomplish. What it is that they want, need and desire. It’s that “imprint” or program that runs behind the scenes…(they don’t know what they don’t know) that exists and can actually create obstacles and distractions (“shiny object” syndrome and the “squirrel” syndrome) when they are pursuing what it is they believe in their heart of hearts they want.
When they understand that their imprint, their program that runs and deploys, can either help drive their motivation or impede their motivation, then they can also understand how and why they are either achieving what it is they want to achieve or not achieving what it is they want to achieve.
So first and foremost, it’s important to take a look at your life and the patterns in your life. Where is it that you effortlessly achieve things and where is it that the obstacles always rear their head. That will tell you what your motivational drive is. There are 2 different drivers…your “toward” motivation and your “away from” motivation. Wherever you are “toward” motivated you are going towards pleasure. When you are “away from” motivated you are running away from something…usually pain. “Towards” motivated people achieve what it is they want in a specific area in an effective and efficient manner. “Away from” motivated people go on a journey of ups and downs, also known as the hills and valleys of success, as they are pursuant of success in that area of their life.
There’s nothing wrong with being “away from” motivated in certain areas. It’s just not as efficient. It’s really important to understand where you are “away from” because then you can work on having it reprogrammed. Your brain is truly just an operating system. Just like your smartphones, applications and any other piece of your technology, it needs to be updated on a continual basis. When was the last time you updated your brain? When you can pinpoint that time you will realize that’s probably the last time you updated your programming for success.