Motivation Or Action – Which Comes First?

Which comes first, Motivation or Action?

Have you ever said  or thought “I can’t do this because I’m just not motivated enough?”   or “If I was more motivated, then I could be more productive or active?” 

It’s true, I can certainly think of times in my life where I have blamed Motivation as the culprit for not having the desire, energy or drive to get off my butt and take action on a task or goal.  But is that the proper way to think of Motivation?

Can we really expect to be in a constant state of motivation if we rely on external factors to motivate us?

And here’s the real kicker…if we expect that motivation preceeds action, then we are forever going to be dependent on external circumstances to motivate us, and isn’t this how it really happens?

I read a motivational books and suddenly, for a week I am motivated like a maniac, but then what happens next? 

I take motivation from an inspiring movie, friend, or environment (hanging out with a bunch of highly successful people or taking a luxurious vacation in the Caribbean) – but what happens after that situation changes?

No wonder staying motivated in such a rollercoaster ride for most people…but what if you could be self motivated?

EXTRINSIC VERSUS INTRINSIC MOTIVATION

What if you could start the cycle of motivation on demand, whenever you want? 

Master entrepreneur and motivator Billy Cox wrote this blog post titled How To MOTIVATE Yourself  making the point that it is far better to control your Motivation intrinsically as opposed to relying on factors outside of you that you do not control.

Imagine the consistency you can achieve in Motivation if you learn that each time you slow down by taking action you can start the cycle of building motivation all over again – intrinsically, so you are not reliant on people, places or other conditions outside of your control.

Now, as Attracting Greatness Blueprint tells us, there need to be a few factors in place before we can be more consistently motivated:

• An overiding, aligned purpose that we recognize and embrace in our lives
• A set of goals that line up with this fundamental purpose
• A set of plans and actions that will lead to realization of those goals – see Making Goals Happen
• Some basic tools and techniques to deal with stress, negativity and self-doubt in our lives

Once those factors are in place, the next major catalyst to staying consistently motivated is ACTION. 

You may have heard the term – Purposeful Action – indeed, that is what we mean here.  By having a fundamental Purpose realized in your life, a well thought out plan and an inherent self-confidence that allows us to deal with any situation that arises, we can now freely take ACTION on demand and reap the rewards of being in a constant state of Motivation. 

Can you see staying more motivated using this approach?