What Is Motivation, Anyway?

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, it is: 1      a : the act or process of motivating      b : the condition of being motivated 2 :      a: motivating force, stimulus, or influence : INCENTIVE, DRIVE Well, that certainly clears THAT up. Don't you love it when you ask for the meaning of a word and the word is given then as the meaning? HellllOOO! For some people, I think that motivation means finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning; to others it may mean actually prying one's butt from the couch to change the TV channel (since the batteries died in the remote control). Others may deem it necessary to accomplish great scholastic achievements or earn more money. Should you request a definition of the word, you would likely get a somewhat differing response from most of those being asked.

There are ways and means of motivating yourself, instilling it in others and in varying degrees necessary to complete whatever task you are looking to accomplish. And there are countless ways of inspiring motivation, like daily use of specific affirmations, reading a plethora of books on the topic, listening to mountains of tapes (some are even subliminal) until you end up with cauliflower ears, meditating, yoga- ing, working out, going for long walks. Or you can, of course, simply read what we send you each day from YDA! (What a novel idea!)

Motivation can be very helpful in pulling one's self out of a slump; it does take considerable determination sometimes to take that first step, but if you are serious about elevating your attitude, for example, you can do it. We can all do it; we just require our own personal justification. Getting motivated when you're feeling pretty "blah", does require considerably more concentrated effort than when things are going well. We just need a good reason.

By practicing various types of motivational methods, we can achieve personal goals and expect gains in other areas - like finances. By associating with "Yeah buts", however, we continue to pull ourselves down. Now Yeah buts are how I refer to those who always see their glass half empty - or less. They seek out (like heat-seeking missiles) anything that can possibly be construed as negative and place emphasis on it. There can be a situation with a hundred positive qualities about it and one not so good. They zero in on the latter. So whenever we "hang" with the Yeah buts, they tend to pull us down, negating a lot of our positive efforts. Whenever we mention something positive to a Yeah but, he/she comes back with a "Yeah but." in attempts to negate it.

It is Best to associate with people who understand and realize the importance of being positive and supportive of others. These are the people who will contribute to your motivational efforts, rather than make the quest any more challenging by attempting to look for flaws in your labours. No more Yeah buts now, just positive, supportive friends. Try it; you will likely notice a positive difference in very short time.

What should you expect when you decide to take on your motivational task? That depends entirely on you. The more effort you instill, the greater the success. Like anything else, you get out of it according to what you put into it. A half-hearted effort will reap mediocre results, whereas heightened enthusiasm can turn one's life around entirely. It's your call.

Regardless of the topic, there always seems to be someone, somewhere who will disagree. As far as motivation yielding better, more positive results, however, I suspect few - if any - would dispute such benefits.

Article courtesy Of www.yourdailyaffirmation.com