Written by: Laura Kirk, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
What motivators drive you? How do you keep your momentum to achieve your goals in your life and business? What do you do when you run out of steam or fail at something and need to start again? While momentum is the steam to keep the train moving, motivation is the engine and the wheels to keep the train on the track. Motivation is personal. You can't learn it, be given it, or copy it. It's so personal and can only come from within yourself. We all have different things that drive us, that makes us want to accomplish our goals.
The first step to getting and keeping the momentum to reach your goals is understanding your motivation so you can stay focused and passionate about what you are doing.
"Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." ~ Winston Churchill
Motivation Breakthrough
When thinking about our life and the business we want, there are two types of motivation: your internal motivators and your external motivators.
Internal Motivation
The internal motivator centers around behaviors that are driven by internal rewards. The accomplishment or action itself brings satisfaction. It isn't something that is outward. For example, you want to start reading for relaxation. You found a book you love and are eager to finish it. You do, and you feel terrific. You are proud of yourself for taking the time to unwind and enjoy a book for strictly entertainment purposes. This feeling of accomplishment motivates you to do it again, making it a goal. These motivators can be big or small.
When identifying your internal motivators, keep these things in mind:
Set challenging goals. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zone a bit is good and will keep you from feeling like it's too easy. The internal reward will be much more significant, thereby giving you more momentum.
Be in control of your goal. Ensure that outside elements or resources do not play a part in achieving your internal motivators.
Pat yourself on the back! Be okay with acknowledging how good you feel and what you accomplished. Sharing on social media, writing a blog, and sharing your experience and accomplishment is a good thing. You are humble in the process and how hard it was to get there but proud of what you accomplished. By sharing, you can help others describe and reach their internal motivators!
Internal Motivators Include:
★ fun/pleasure
★ satisfaction
★ gratification
★ feeling of worthiness
★ feeling of accomplishment
★ a sense of purpose
★ pride
★ mastering a skill
External Motivation
External motivators are outside yourself. External rewards, like fame and money, are external motivators. These motivators are part of your "why" when developing your brand. What you want to achieve by helping others. An example might be that you are featured in a hugely popular magazine, like Forbes, and you become very well known for your skill. Another might be that you build a technology that sells for a large amount of money, or you have a thriving coaching business that provides you and your family with a very comfortable lifestyle.
External motivating goals are great for getting you outside your comfort zone. They could also backfire. With big external motivators comes a more significant risk for failure. You must understand what failure is and how to stay motivated. Another risk would be achieving great external results; it is possible to lose focus on the part of your "why" where you help others. Staying calibrated and grateful should be a part of your strategy. A proper balance of internal and external motivators is the recipe for momentum and success.
External Motivators Included:
★ fame
★ praise
★ money
★ awards
★ social influence
★ material rewards
★ promotion
★ feeling of superiority
Do The Work Action Steps
List at least three of your internal motivators.
List at least three of your external motivators.
What are two strategies you can start today to help keep you motivated? Keep in mind staying motivated is what propels our momentum.
Create two affirmations you can use to keep you motivated.
Stay motivated to keep learning!
Now that you have identified your internal and external motivators and started the process of balancing your motivation and goals in your Balance Flywheel, you are ready to learn about staying motivated during failure, uncertain times, and more.
Grab a limited one-on-one coaching spot now! With this offer, you have one month of personalized coaching for just $395!
Coaching is one-on-one. No group sessions or pre-recorded coaching. Over four weeks, you will get step-by-step processes to:
Overcome mental overwhelm from external environments, failure, confusion and mental exhaustion
Develop daily habits for being your most productive and creative self!
Discover your brand identity that represents your goals and motivation flywheel
Learned the voice and character of your brand, allowing you to create content easily.
Connected your brand message to your visual brand identity
To learn more about how to design your life and business to make you wildly happy, including free resources, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, or visit my website.
Laura Kirk, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Laura Kirk is a Business and Brand Coach dedicated to helping small businesses across the United States build a life and business that will give them freedom and security, so they can live a life that makes them wildly happy. A marketing and business strategy strategist, Laura has over 20 years of experience building brands and businesses. With the action-by-action processes and discovering focus, flow, and alignment, entrepreneurs clarify their goals, create successful strategies, and take decisive action. Laura has worked with companies of all sizes, from CPG brands, state tourism agencies, to contracting with larger agencies. She discovered her true passion is to coach entrepreneurs and small business owners to build their brand and business and achieve what they might consider an impossible goal. Knowing that it's possible, Laura turned her dream into reality, and now she wants to share and teach others how to do the same. We will take a little bit of life coaching, blending with brand work, and throw in a killer marketing strategy.
