Ever find yourself in kind of a funk, faced with having to do something you don’t want to do? A project at work? A chore on that Honey-Do list your spouse keeps adding to. It happens every day. To millions of us. Life isn’t always fun. Neither are the things we’re expected to do.
Maybe it’s time for “The Motivators,” those dynamic forces of accomplishment who – through prodding, inspiration and the skilled use of rewards and punishment – set us reluctant dolts in motion during just such times.
What is it that motivates you? What gets your engine revving when you have to do something you’d rather not? It might help if we take a look at what motivation is – or is supposed to be.
Motivation is generally accepted to mean “having the desire and willingness to do something.” That’s all well and good, but we’re talking here about the UNwilling having to do the UNdesirable.
So, let’s see what The Motivators can do to help us. By the way, that’s just their stage name. In real life their known as the Needs Brothers. Allow me to introduce them. There’s the smallest of the Needs, Physiological. Next in line are the twins, Safety and Security, followed by Social Needs, then Self-Esteem. And, finally, there’s the biggest, most senior brother, Self-Actualization, said to be the grandest Need of all.
The father of these six was Abraham Maslow. Their mother? Psychology. The Needs came to life in 1943 as Maslow’s theory titled Hierarchy of Human Needs. But enough of science. What does this all mean to you and me? Simply put, we humans have wants and desires that influence our behavior. But, we’re told, only unsatisfied needs can influence what we do and say. Satisfied needs cannot.
So, let’s see what Self-Actualization can do to help us accomplish our dreaded tasks. Self-Actualization, to paraphrase Maslow, is the natural growth of a motivating force within each of us, but, more concisely, it’s our ability to grow from within, the very essence of who we are as individuals. Self-Actualization, then, is our Need to reach our fullest potential as individuals.
Moving from the world of psychology to something more real, what it all means is that each of us already has, deep within ourselves, what it takes to do those dreaded jobs. All we have to do is dig down, pull it out, and put it to use.
Oh, in case you’re interested, you’ll recognize Self-Actualization by the T-shirt he’s always wearing. He refuses to part with it because he wrote his favorite saying across the front with a big, fat marker: “Find a way!”
© 2006, Philip A. Grisolia, CBC
A respected authority on motivation, Phil Grisolia is the author of “Wise Words – 1,001 Truths to Inspire, Enlighten and Enrich Everyday Life,” available at http://xlibris.com and through major booksellers. A wordsmith by profession, Phil puts his motivational skills to use both as an educator and as an award-winning copywriter. Learn more about Phil, his book and his work by visiting him at http://PhilGrisolia.com
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