Are you driving your own success?

What is Intrinsic Motivation?

Intrinsic motivation refers to?your?behavior that is driven by?you and not external forces.?It’s?the motivation to engage in a behavior arising?from within?you,?because it?naturally satisfies you.?

It’s not?extrinsic motivation, when you need?to engage in a behavior in order to?gain?external rewards?(like money, a bonus or favoritism from someone?or?to?avoid?potential punishment?(known as "The Carrot & Stick approach").

So how do you stay motivated?to live your dreams, achieve success, especially?when life gets you down?or things get in your way?

Many of us when we face?challenges “look outside” for the answers.?Which is the most obvious approach especially when we are almost permanently connected to the world online.

Looking outside for help is completely fine.Such as help from family, friends, your boss or colleagues all make perfect sense.

Looking for motivation by watching YouTube videos, listening to Ted talks, talking to mentors, getting a personal coach are all awesome ways to support the process of change and drive yourself forward positively.

However, they all have one thing in common; they are just tools.

They are not?the final answer that you need to keep you moving forward proactively and developing a self driven mindset.

Real drive & motivation must come from inside of you!

If you truly want to be successful in life or your career, you must have what we call intrinsic motivation, and it should come naturally, it’s part of you. Not something you stick on like a band-aid, when you need it…

If you don’t create this “internal drive”, you’ll be like a car on a road with no gas stations, you can only drive so far, before?you?run out of gas! Then you’ll need all those tools again to fill you back up with some more motivation?to keep moving forward…

Ot its like a?bucket of water?with a?small leak,?eventually?all?the?water empties out of the bucket, and you?are left all dry and empty…?

What you really should be doing, is to focus on how you are going to repair the hole in the?bucket?and?stop the leak!

Just like the leaking?bucket, you’ve got to find out “Why you are leaking?water", why you lose momentum in your goals and drive to succeed, often giving up before you complete what you set out to achieve.

If you can do this, you will be able to create?a “sustainable internal drive”, a car that never runs out of energy!

So how do you engage yourself and keep yourself motivated??

You’ve got to make sure you know?What you really want and why that is important?

Tony Robbins talks about, he says he is not here to motivate people to change their lives.

He says he is the “Why Guy”, he wants to know "Why you do what you do". He looks to help people understand their own value in making powerful change in their lives.

We must “have purpose”, a reason for doing what you do or what we want to do.

Like the car, you don’t just get in and drive anywhere, you must know you where you are going!

You need a destination?before you set out on your journey, it doesn’t matter if that is to lose weight for the summer holidays or to make millions of dollars, it’s all the same.

If you aren’t happy with something or feel like you don’t have the energy to go on or you aren’t really sure why you do what you do, you won't be successful.

The first step to create this internal drive, before you do anything is to ask yourself these following questions:

And make sure you?dig deep into the answers as well in order to gain a better understanding of?you why...

What is it you want to achieve from this?process?

Before we buy a house or change a job we put time into researching all the information we need, yet many of us don’t invest time into research for ourselves, we often start goals with little or no preparation, it is no wonder we don’t achieve success or give up on the way.

Write your answers down, the action of writing (and yes using a real pen and paper), takes our thoughts in our head and helps solidify them on paper, this action makes things even more real than using a PC or phone to take notes.

So here we go (and find a quiet place when you do this, or listen to music while having a coffee in Starbucks etc, give yourself plenty of time).

1. What do I want to achieve?
2. Why is this important? What value will I get from this?
3. When I achieve this, what will it give me, give others, give the company? (be very specific here)
4. If I don’t do this what will happen?
5. What is stopping me from achieving this now??
6. What might stop me later on? Or who might stop me! (Think about possible roadblocks before they happen)
7. Who needs to help me to achieve this?
8. What resources or tools do I need? (Tools are important, but they are not the whole process,?they are just part of it)
9. When do I want to complete this?by?
10. How long will I take to get there?
11. Do I need to break this goal up into parts, to make it more manageable?
12. How do I know I am on track?
13. How will I track my overall progress?
14. How will I keep myself accountable?
15. Is this something I share with the world? (Sharing can help your commitment)
16. What action can I start today? (not tomorrow!)

Don’t just do this exercise once.

Repeat this process, review these questions and answers often.

The process may change and we always hit road-bumps, so review these to make adjustments and keep you moving forward.

Depending on how long?this project is,?we still need to take a break on the journey and?remind?ourselves of why we started this journey.?A lot of folks write goals down and then don't look at them again.

You are the one who is in the driving seat of the car?and just like any journey these questions become your personal “navigation system” to help you complete the journey, no matter how long it takes.

You are the one who needs to be in control,?you need?to decide what you do and how you do it.

Starting today,?take back control to drive yourself forward.?Don’t be like many other people who sit in the backseat and let other people decide the journey for you (that's a Taxi lol)

Remember to drive at a speed that suits you as well, success and I mean real success is not a race. Its you on an open road by yourself and you decide what you do and how you get there.

You own this, no one to blame when you don’t get what you want.

Don’t expect other people or things to drive you where you want to go in life.

And most importantly - Enjoy the journey please ??