by Eleanor Clayson
Motivation in life is a big deal.
Most of us are quite familiar with the feeling of getting up in the morning and not wanting to go to work, school, the gym etc… especially if it’s cold outside and warm in bed. But the reality is, ‘stuff needs to get done, bills need to be paid, assignments need to be finished, flab needs to be burned.
Most of us have probably had enough of hearing motivational speakers expound on their ‘new psychologies of success’ and have been oversaturated by the onslaught of quasi-wisdom being vomited through the plethora of tech and social media platforms by keyboard gurus who possibly don’t know as much as they assert… Phew! As one genuinely wise individual said, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. Most of this stuff is pretty straightforward.
Such is motivation. At its core is the necessity of a sense of ownership and freedom. A good example is when you own a car, versus hiring one. Generally speaking, people aren’t quite as ‘motivated’ to clean, look after and take pride in a hire car as much as they might be with one that they own. Ownership = motivation. This can be applied to a persons life – if they feel a sense of ownership and control over their own life- as opposed to being controlled by another, motivation flows.
Rockingham counsellor, Eleanor Clayson discusses this dynamic in the context of athletes:
Understanding the laws and principles that underpin healthy function in human performance is key. It’s not rocket science, its not some new psychoeducation. It’s pretty simple really. If you own your life, you’ll probably feel more motivated to do something with it.