Each of us is motivated differently. What drives us to do what we do?
There are six reasons for everything people do:
- Certainty
- Uncertainty or variety
- Significance
- Love or connection
- Growth
- Contribution
You must have a level of certainty to accomplish anything. If you
had no certainty, you would be too afraid to start anything. Conversely, you also must have uncertainty or variety in your life; otherwise you would be very bored.
All of us are more motivated to do tasks or achieve goals when we feel significant. Typically, we get a feeling of significance either through work or from friends and family. If we feel worthy about
what we do, then we do what must be done. In addition to feeling significant, we must feel a connection or love to the people we are dealing with. For example, if we felt no connection to our signifi-
cant other, would we be motivated to do things for him or her?
Probably not! Because we do feel a connection with and love from
our significant other, we will be motivated to do things to make him
or her happy that we may not normally do for ourselves.
To be motivated, we must be growing and learning all the time.
If we are not growing, we are stagnant. When we stagnate, we actually move backward. Moving backward does not feel good, and we may even become depressed. That is why we continually stretch ourselves and grow. We also must feel that we are contributing not only
to ourselves but also to others. When we contribute beyond ourselves, we are fulfilling our spiritual need.