What do you find is most effective at pushing you to do your best at/work your butt off on personal goals?

[TissueBox]

Some days are without muse. Some days the fire is barely a flicker. But without fail, there is one thing that will kick you out of idle gear and get you putting your 100% into the grind once more. A motivation blazin'. A re-charged battery. Even if this does not apply to you, and you typically go throughout life this way mostly 24/7, the question remains: what is your main propellant? ^^'

Ride on, purps!! *pizza flop*

 

[Midramble]

Nothing has ever been 100% effective at getting me motivated. Mood and situation changes too much. Acclimation makes one motivation dulled the more its relied on. On top of having a deficit of attention maintaining a single source of motivation never seems to work for me. Only thing I've found to work for me is developing ritualistic routine in order to remove the requirement of motivation to start and instead allow motivation to be triggered by the work itself after I've already started.

TL:DR Motivation is too fickle for me. I have to rely on habit.

 

[pleaseinsertdisctwo]

That's really hard for me to answer and it depends what my goal is.

for stuff like obtaining the body I want? It's largely extrinsic motivation. If I have a crush my motivation increases tenfold, for instance. But it also helps that I have a sensitive ass stomach and ideally I should be eating healthy foods and low carbs and sodium and etc. I've also been dying to be able to be confident shirtless for once in my damn life and to to confident having my photo taken, so, there's that

Career-wise? Part of it is still extrinsic, but if I practice being mindful, I'm better at reminding myself ALL the things I need to work on and why I need to work on them constantly.

A good reminder that I still need to cut out video games unfortunately. They make it too easy for me to enter a depersonalized state and thus harder for me to be mindful.

 

[Deleted member 8118]

It's nice to see a thread like this pop up just when I start building the wireframe to a new portfolio site..

Honestly, I just don't feel like being homeless, so the first vote would be for money/professional success, but outside of my essentials, it's mainly desire to challenge and improve myself and contribute to others. I'm pretty much a mixed bag of a few of the choices above.

I hadn't been doing anything for the past week or so. I have a project car that needs work and a portfolio that needs to be put together. Those are the two big things I haven't been taking care of, but I know that if I do it, the results will be amazing once done.

I tend to have a meticulous mindset when it comes to tasks, so it makes it hard for me to start or finish them.

 

[julia crawford]

Doing it for another person

 

[Strings]

It's not as bad as it sounds when I type it out like this, but self-loathing tbh. Annoyance at how useless I'm being, that sort of thing.

 

[Temp_User]

All of the choices work for me but if i have to pick one it would be parents, siblings, fiance . . . . basically the people close to you. One of these days, ill probably learn to keep my mouth shut and share about the things i want to do when they themselves are sharing things to me just to avoid the pressure.

 

[Qikz]

I always work harder when I know I've got PTO very soon. I usually lose all the will to work up until a few days until I'm off or the week before I'm off and I get a burst of energy.

 

[Wari Oman]

Meditation and taking the time to stop and feel/re-asses what I actually want instead of numbing myself with entertainment or work.

 

[sven]

My job will never get my best effort. Never.

 

[SABO.]

It's not as bad as it sounds when I type it out like this, but self-loathing tbh. Annoyance at how useless I'm being, that sort of thing.

Click to shrink...

I hear you. I was going to say insecurity and low self esteem.

 

[NetMapel]

I think you're missing options that involve fear as a motivating factor. Having a certain fear that if you don't push yourself, you may end up becoming obsolete is a huge motivator for better or for worse. Covid has shown how vulnerable a lot of people are and they are fighting for survivals. So fear for the future is a powerful motivator that I feel is missing from one of your voting options!

 

[Clowns]

extreme depression

 

[lazerface]

My job will never get my best effort. Never.

Click to shrink...

Lol

 

[eXistor]

Just the simple fact that I have the responsibility. If a customer comes with stuff I get to work, if headquarters gives me new tasks, I hop to it because that's what I'm supposed to do. I don't really need to get motivated, it's a sense of responsibility towards my employer.

 

[Thorn]

Fear of punishment and Self Loathing.

So Social I guess.

 

[Hoggle]

It's probably not healthy but I live for my job. If I need to work 16 hours and sleep in my car in the car park to have a more productive day then that's what I do. That's what I've always done.

Sk basically I don't need motivation. I just get on with it.

 

[Deleted member 2834]

Definitely social aspects. I work hardest when I want to avoid embarrassing myself or being reprimanded or punished. Curiously, money doesn't push me particularly much and unlike 90% of Era I'm not super well off or anything.

 

[Deleted member 9241]

I require absolutely zero outside input or acknowledgment in order to achieve my personal and professional goals.

 

[Advance.Wars.Sgt.]

My motivation is mostly internal, so the 4th option.

Basically all I need is the belief that I can do it. And not only that, the belief I can refine and make the process more efficient with habit.

 

[Brinbe]

It has to be internal. Too bad I'm terrible at it.

 

[Staf]

Competition and money/success without a doubt. But if i had to choose one it would be the latter.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

Definitely money. And I think once I reach a certain point I'll stop giving a f*ck

 

[Fatoy]

Deadlines are the only thing that work for me, professionally and personally.

If I want to start running again, I have to sign up for a race. If I want to start lifting again, I have to book a holiday where I'll need to take my top off. If I want to finish a big work project, I have to get someone to demand the deliverable from me on a fixed date. If I want to make more money, I have to agree to buy a house or a car or something equally large.

 

[Soda]

I'm extremely arrogant and the only person that really challenges me or compares is myself, so self improvement is the only way I can meet someone more interesting than my current self.

 

[Metalgus]

Honestly, ultimately my motivation is self centered I think, but it doesn't really come off as that. Let's see a couple of examples. I got sober: it was for me, to ensure I had more money and that I wouldn't die a premature death. At work I'm one of the best managers: I'm good because I go above and beyond to ensure there are no surprises ahead, because I hate surprises. My house: I'm not handy but I do stuff on my house because I know that, again, having stuff repaired reduces chances of surprises (I hate surprises). Marriage: I try to better myself so that my SO continues to love me so that I can continue to reap the benefits of a happy marriage (including regular you-know-what). Donations: I try to up my donations each year, because I know it's for the greater good, but also because it makes ME feel good. Anyway, I'm no psychopath though, but I guess I really apply the principle of "taking care of the goose to ensure regular golden eggs". The goose being anything that creates benefits for my life.

 

[mhayes86]

Depends on the goal, but some of it is to alleviate boredom and improve myself, but professionally it's definitely to further my career, keep me engaged/enjoy the job, and ultimately make more money.

 

[Neo C.]

Longterm goals are certainly centered to self-improvement, and to that extent improving social status. To me, money has a limited motivational power, otherwise I would do 50h per week. Instead, I actively look for decreasing my hours.

 

[Elfgore]

It's money. Money is why I went back to school and why I work hard at my job. Both can help me make more money.

If I could find a career that would support me via creative outlets, then that would drive me. I'm either too lazy or not talented enough to have the drive to get there.

 

[Rassilon]

i stumbled into my dream job as an illustrator

my motivation is a mixture of artistic drive and severe deadline anxiety

 

[Yourfawthaaa]

I've honestly Checked out of caring for doing my job.

Only motivating factor for me is they're paying for my education in full and i graduate in less than a year but im also eligible for a easy promotion come august because i went to college on them.

Cant wait to get the fuck out of my current position.

 

[Deleted member 46493]

It's pretty bad for me - all external factors lol

Like if my life is going well (romantically, friends, no personal or stressful issues) I'll work well. If something is going wrong, work is the first area of my life that suffers.

 

[meowdi gras]

Wanting to avoid being fired/flunked/yelled at for failing to meet deadlines. Honestly.

Self-defeating neuroses are the worst.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

Not being homeless again.

 

[filkry]

Usually guilt. I judge myself for being lazy, it gets worse the longer it lasts, and eventually I crack and start up again.

 

[MrCheezball]

If we are talking professionally, it's always money.

Personal goals are more of a two pronger:

When it comes to personal entrepreneurial endeavors or health moves, part of it is a self-sustaining feedback loop from results. When I'm working on weight loss, the incremental stuff of pants fitting looser and having people give me compliments feed into keeping it up.

More for entrepreneurial efforts is the desire to leave my mark on the world and being remembered by people other than family. So it's an ego thing and a competition thing, and maybe just so I can say "I did that".

 

[Deleted member 3208]

As an artist and writer, what drives me is to continue the story and see my characters. Each time I finish a drawing well, it fills me with joy.

Some years ago I wouldn't dreamed of drawing them; even considered looking for artist and commission them just to have a visual interpretation of my characters. It has also helped me with my writing by having a clear idea of how they look and how they will act.

As a programmer, which is my job right now... guess it is earn a better salary. That said, I'm enjoying programming in Python and Flask. It has been years since I have felt happy doing something like this.

 

[Falchion]

Show me the cash homie 🤑

 

[Mammoth Jones]

I just never forgot the feeling when I was younger and couldn't afford shit. Fuck going back to that. If that means I gotta keep grinding and focus on shit then so be it.

 

[Cokomon]

If I'm not using my free time for personal projects, I feel like I'm wasting my time. This used to be less of a problem when I was younger, but it weighs on me more lately, especially during the Covid lockdown.

 

[Tavernade]

When I was a teenager it was anything I was convinced would help me get the attention of whoever I had a crush on (regardless of how silly it might be).

As an adult it's usually just having a couple days off in a row and being in a spot where I can speed through a project without hitting a road block. My current personal projects consist of one that is kicking my ass and requires a ton of research before I can dig in again and another that's just a slog of editing, so the chances of breaking free and getting to run rampant is rare.