Three Factors that Influence Motivation

Where does motivation come from?

This is a complicated question to answer. In one sense, motivation is a natural force that helps you survive. Motivation leads you to eat, sleep, seek shelter, and care for your other basic human needs.

At the same time, motivation leads you to pursue more complex psychological demands such as comfort, security, and belonging. Several different innate factors influence your motivation, and understanding what they are and how they work can help you think about how you may alter or refocus your motivation to help you reach your goals or grow yourself.

Let’s look at five domains that play a part in directing or defining your motivation. 

Values

Richard Barrett developed a unique model of understanding human needs and motivations based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. More specifically, Barrett argues that values motivate every decision we make, even if those values are unconscious. Considering how our values impact our decisions helps us understand, on a deeper level, why we do what we do. 

Think about some of the most important decisions you’ve made in your life and what they say about your values. One of the biggest decisions I made in my life was changing careers after five years of working in church leadership. The decision was motivated by a desire to protect my family from the stress and trauma that families in ministry often experience (and, honestly, that my family had already experienced to some degree). If you asked me what that decision said about my values, I would tell you that it reflected my desire to care for and support my family. 

If you’ve never taken time to think about your values, several assessments and resources can help you get started. The Core Values Index (CVI) assessment is one of my favorites. I also appreciate how Patrick Lencioni discusses defining core values in books such as “The Advantage.” While primarily written for organizations, I believe it’s accessible and useful for individuals. 

Desires

This may be the most obvious point in the entire article, but it’s worth mentioning regardless. Our desires directly impact our motivation, especially if we’re expecting an instantaneous reward. If you walk into the office at the bank and see a bowl of candy, you’re instantly motivated to grab a piece because you know you’ll immediately enjoy the sweet taste when you put the candy in your mouth. If you feel your phone buzz, you immediately feel motivated to pick it up or pull it out of your pocket to see what notification you received. 

Our tendency to pursue instant gratification is natural, but this doesn’t mean we must give in every time. Rather than unconsciously responding to each cue or stimulus, we can make more informed decisions by naming our desires and considering the cost and benefit of giving in. This process can feel awkward at first, but it allows us to be more aware of the decisions that we’re making and what we’re hoping to accomplish by acting a certain way. 

Beliefs

While beliefs and values are similar, they impact our motivation differently. For example, I value helping people with motivation, goals, and habits because I’ve seen the impact of growth in these areas in my own life. At the same time, I don’t coach people for free because I believe that if I don’t bring in an income, I won’t be able to support my family. 

In other words, our beliefs guide the way we see the world. They work alongside our cause-and-effect narratives of what will happen due to our actions. We make decisions based on this framework in hopes that we can guarantee certain or predictable outcomes.

This doesn’t mean that we should always take our beliefs at face value. In fact, we should challenge our beliefs to confirm that they are true. If we operate based on an idea that’s actually a lie, we hold ourselves back and limit our potential growth and impact. As Craig Groeschel says in “Winning the War in Your Mind,” “A lie believed as true will impact your life as if it were true.” In other words, if you believe that you aren’t capable of starting a business, getting in shape, going back to school, or reconciling a broken relationship, that limiting belief will manifest itself in your life and keep you from reaching your goals even if it doesn’t contain the slightest amount of truth.  

Here’s one more thing to consider. A few years ago, I read a book called “Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes.” As the authors of this book spoke about cultural values, they argued that our deepest beliefs and values are so ingrained in our minds and hearts that they go without being said. If these deep-seated, unspoken beliefs are false truths, they could hold us back without our knowledge. 

The first step toward bringing these lies into the light is becoming incredibly curious about why we think the way we do. Never assume something is valid if you’ve never done the hard work of critical thinking and exploration. Don’t shy away from tough conversations with others about why you think the way you do. Instead, relish these opportunities to clarify your thinking or potentially reinforce what you believe. 

What other factors influence motivation? What have you learned from your experience? I’d love to hear. Feel free to comment on this post or send me an email.