Is your lack of motivation causing you stress?

Motivation is key if we are to succeed and achieve our goals. Without motivation, we will not take action, and no action = no outcome. So learning how to sustain motivation is key if you want to succeed.

We all have those days when we just don't feel as motivated to do the tasks that we should be doing. If this happens sparingly, it may not be such an issue. It may be your body's way of telling you to take some time out. However, if your lack of motivation is cutting into your day and weeks go by without you feeling like you have really achieved anything, then you do have an issue on your hands and this can lead to stress, as a result.

So how do you control your motivation rather than it control you?

There are 2 major types of motivation:

1. Motivation that is towards your goal (e.g. I am going to achieve this goal so that I can get my promotion at work)


2. Motivation that is away from your goal (e.g. I had better get this goal so that I don't get sacked).

Away from motivation is associated with a negative feeling and although it can give you the initial motivation to take action, generally produces inconsistent results. With away from motivation, you are only propelled to take action when things get bad and stress increases. This causes a lot more stress than if you were to use toward motivation which would elicit more consistent action and therefore results.

Think about your goals, are the towards or away from your goal. If they are away from motivation, write them down and ask yourself, how can I make this into a more positive goal? What positive reasons are there for me to achieve this goal? Associate the goal with something you love/enjoy to get even more motivation to take action.