Sometimes, your sense of motivation eludes you, even when all kinds of external motivating factors are present – here’s what you can do about it.
Everyone has found themselves with flagging motivation at an inconvenient time but when an unstoppable pall of apathy meets an immovable deadline, the situation is elevated from inconvenient to borderline disastrous.
Deadlines are a good example of a form of external motivation. External motivation comes from an outside demand, such as rule of law, closing times or the demands of an employer.
There’s also, of course, inner motivation – in other words, the drive that comes from an inherent desire to better yourself or the perceived personal satisfaction one can gain from the outcome.
Is one any stronger than the other? That’s a question that fascinated bestselling author Gretchen Rubin, and inspired her to develop the Four Tendencies, a framework used to identify four different personality types that respond to forms of motivation in different ways.
If you’re one of those mythical types with high levels of self-control, for example, you would be classed as an ‘upholder’ and are the type that responds readily to both internal and external motivation (and, honestly, you probably don’t need to be reading this article).
If you find that you’re conscientious to a fault but are quick to give up on goals you set for yourself, you’d be classed as an ‘obliger’, because you’re motivated by external accountability.
The ‘rebel’ is, as you might expect, rebellious and feels pretty divorced from all forms of expectation.
Meanwhile, the ‘questioner’ is motivated by logic and reason, so they will struggle to meet expectations that they don’t deem to make any sense.
These distinctions are important to consider when trying to figure out how to tap into the well of motivation that is inside all of us but sometimes gets muddied due to pressure, stress or any number of reasons.
Are you curious which one you fall into? Luckily, QuickQuid has whipped up this infographic that not only provides a flowchart to help you determine your type but also outlines the best tips to drum up motivation, depending on what kind of person you are.
If you want to find out if you’re more ‘rebel’ than ‘obliger’, check out the infographic below.
Infographic: QuickQuid
