Today, during a Q&A session I was conducting at Nokia, someone asked — “How do I find motivation for a task?”
A part of the answer is hidden in plain sight — in your own life.
Take this example: Nobody likes filling out forms, waiting in queues, etc. But if a family member is admitted to a hospital, you run around, wait for doctors, and fill out all the hospital forms without complaining.
Why? Because you care about your family member.
The same thing happens when a task that you don’t care about unexpectedly gets a tight deadline from your boss. Now, your alertness spikes, and suddenly, you have a gush of motivation.
Why? Because you care about not getting fired by your boss.
While there are many other techniques to enhance motivation, the biggest source of motivation is caring badly enough about the end goal. If you have that, you will do virtually anything.
The next time you are stuck with any task, ask yourself, “Why am I even doing this task? Why should I even bother?”
When you can answer that question, you will find your inner motivation.
PS: There are other techniques to supplement intrinsic motivation but I will write about them separately.
– Rajan