The true science of motivation. How to make yourself do it.
Like many, I could never understand what motivation is. I thought it was like a wind in the sails: it comes and goes whenever it likes. Of course, the problem is that if there isn’t any wind, you are standing still and not moving anywhere. It’s very unpleasant when your whole life and achievements depend on some mythical force which you cannot control in any way.
As a matter of fact, there is nothing mysterious or unpredictable about motivation. However, if we want to understand how it works and learn how to put it to good use, first we need to figure out how our brain works at the most fundamental level.
Quite recently, scientists have studied freshwater snails and found out that these tiny creatures can make complex decisions with only two brain cells: one to feel hungry, and the other to feel where the food is. The snail needs only two neurons to move in the right direction. When the activity of the neuron that is responsible for hunger increases, the snail feels UNCOMFORTABLE and starts looking for food.
From this we can learn an important lesson: motivation is simply the desire to get rid of discomfort, to return to homeostasis, to the familiar, calm, relaxed state when you don’t have to move. Put simply, motivation is the desire to calm down the neuron responsible for hunger.
Our brain is much more complex than the primitive structure of the snail’s two cells, but fundamentally they are the same. When we are not comfortable, we are motivated to get comfortable.
Therefore, each of us has motivation, and this motivation is always enough to relieve us of discomfort in the simplest way.
That’s true, even if you see the laziest loafer, you may be perfectly sure that he is extremely motivated. Motivated to get rid of discomfort. Suppose he wants to make a million dollars. This is a kind of discomfort. Now his brain has two options how to get rid of it: to actually earn a million dollars or play a computer game and temporarily forget that such a desire exists.
In his scientific work, Robert Kurzban states that the brain will follow the path of least resistance. You must admit that it would be strange if a snail, sitting on a beautiful juicy green leaf, suddenly dashed off to find another green leaf. No, it will choose what is the simplest and most nutritious, just as the brain of a gamer will choose a computer game: he will do what will relieve him of discomfort most quickly and effectively.
This person’s parents and people around might think that he lacks motivation. That he’s playing games because he has no energy. But this is not the case. In fact, his brain has learned to get rid of an unpleasant feeling in a bizarre and very simple way, and now it gives just enough motivation for the person to get to the computer and press the button.
We know from research that achieving goals depends almost entirely on what DISTRACTS us from achieving those goals.
So, the first conclusion about motivation. Motivation depends on alternatives.
To understand how it works, let’s take a look at the life of our ancestors. Why did they always stay in good shape, keep a proper diet, and consume only the most useful information?
Because there was only healthy food, which could be obtained only by running through the woods and using only useful information. And of course, they always had enough motivation to go to the woods: there was no fridge in the house or a bag of potato chips on the table.
So it all comes down to a simple formula.
Motivation is the energy given to us to implement the quickest and most effective alternative.
Therefore, in order to have indestructible motivation to achieve your goal, you need to get rid of all other alternatives.
What does it look like in practice? If you suffer from video game addiction and you lack motivation to do something useful, sell your video card. If you indulge in chocolates, make sure you don’t have any in your home and ask someone else who is allergic to cocoa to buy food. Do you spend hours on social networks? Sell your smartphone and buy a simple feature phone. Do you watch too much TV? Throw away your TV set.
Some recent scientific papers, and, in particular, a 2015 study, explored motivated people with a high level of self-control. Those amazing people who literally cut through reality with their willpower might look almost like robots to us, but, in fact, they just avoid temptation. Such people simply choose situations where they will face fewer temptations.
They have exactly the same willpower as you do. They just have no smartphone around, no Instagram, tasty sweets or doltish friends.
And if all these suddenly appear, they try to stay focused. According to research, one of the most proven techniques is to think about the positive consequences, about the finish line, about what awaits you at the end.
The opposite is also true. So-called “unmotivated” people surround themselves with temptations and then wonder why they have low self-control. The secret of motivation is not to allow yourself to want things that contradict your long-term goals.
Now let’s assume that you want to do something, for example, to write a term paper. There is some discomfort in your head, and, therefore, you’re motivated to get rid of it. However, in this hypothetical situation, there is no computer nearby that would distract you from the mental image of the work done. And there’s no phone either. There are no cheap pleasures, no friends who would invite you to a party, or a delicious cake that would throw you into a food coma and make you forget that you actually have a lot to do.
Faced with the harsh reality of your irresistible desire, you… will have to satisfy it. And the only option you have is to sit down and start writing your term paper.
That’s how we handle the wind in the sails. The wind simply has nowhere else to blow, except in our sails.
Now take a piece of paper and divide it into two columns. In the first one, write down your goals. And in the second — all the alternatives your brain resorts to to dull the discomfort. Now think about how you can reduce the influence of the factors in the second column.
Of course, you do not need to give up all the entertainment, but you can organize yourself so it doesn’t distract you from work. You don’t have to break off contacts with your friends, but you can agree with them that from now on you will go out with them only on certain days. You do not need to cut off the Internet cable, but you can set up parental control to allow access only to specific websites. Basically, there are loads of possible solutions, but the main thing is to understand that you will always lack motivation if you are surrounded by counterproductive things. And the opposite is also true. If you live in a gym, you will probably exercise at least once a day. If you have to spend the whole day in a library, sooner or later, you will take a book and start reading it, and so on.
