Too many times have I tried to get myself to work, only to fail because of lacking motivation. I question- do I really have to finish now? Is it possible to do this later, when I feel like it? A lack of motivation can be a problem in anything, from not wanting to finish an assignment to questioning why it is we do anything. Often times, we don’t do any sort of work until we feel motivated, so in a way our productivity is totally dependent on our often fleeting motivations.
But there is one thing I want to question- do we dwell too much on the matter? That is to say, are we overthinking our need for motivation?
This isn’t to say I believe we don’t need motivation; quite to the contrary, I myself need a lot to continue working. To be truly motivated though- that really is a great thing, leading you not only to achieve your desires, but also making you feel purposeful in what you’re doing. In the end, all of us want to feel we’re fulfilling some sort of purpose, whether it be great or small. Thus, there is no question as to how wonderful it is to be motivated- a great many of us can attest to that.
But what about when we don’t feel motivated at all? After all, when we feel there’s no reason to do something, it’s only natural that we don’t do it. What about when we realize the great amount of work we have to get done, and blame our desire to avoid it on a lack of motivation? Rather than doing any work, we sometimes begin to question why we would have to do it at all, and we often reach the conclusion we hope for- that we really don’t have to do our work and thus, we can push it away for the time being. This could be highly detrimental, as it encourages the procrastination we’re only too well acquainted with and we could avoid doing a lot of important work.
In that sort of situation, perhaps it would be interesting to think of motivation as… something we will find later, something we will work to find. Perhaps it is better to continue working at what we’re doing even if we don’t feel motivated at the time, possibly even for the sake of finding motivation later.
But this in turn introduces the possibility of wasting your life looking for motivation in places where it’s not to be found. This idea seems scary, but it could be avoided- here’s how:
Imagine you do work at a task that you were once motivated to do, and though you’re no longer as motivated ,you remember how great it was when you were and thus, you continue to work at it, hoping to once again find the passion and resulting motivation you once had. In this situation, the passion may be gone, but is the motivation truly ever gone? I’d argue no, because now rather than being motivated to work at whatever you’re doing for the sake of passion, you’re motivated to work to find another passion that you’d in turn find motivation to work for once again. ‘Seek and you shall find;’ continue motivating yourself, and you’ll even find a new passion. Thus, it can be seen that in the event that one loses a passion, they needn’t lose their motivation too- all they need to do is work to find a new passion, which will in turn bring motivation to their lives.
Perhaps to excuse avoiding work on a lack of motivation isn’t a good idea, but it is important to recognize it’s importance. After all, anything humanity has accomplished has been fueled by some sort of motivation. All in all, it’s always a good idea to find something you’re passionate about and will be motivated to work for!
