2 days before his match with the undefeated back then Mike Tyson, Buster Douglas’s mother died. Douglas was preparing for one of the most difficult challenges that he had until that time of his life and another calamity hit his life. It is obvious that it was a very hard period for him, yet he managed to beat the ‘undisputed’ heavyweight champion of that time Mike Tyson via knockout, because he had a reason. Reason is only one pillar of motivation. The other two are autonomy and mastery.
Purpose
When you have a purpose about doing something, then chances are it is almost sufficient enough for you to constantly be inspired to take action. Purpose overcomes self-doubts, fears and many obstacles that show up towards action. When you have a strong purpose, then procrastination is merely a thought. You are able to defeat an undefeated champion even at hard times when you have just lost a close person. You can even increase your productivity as much as five times.
Autonomy
Everybody at some point has the desire to experience the possibility for taking decisions. Taking decisions gives us the feeling of being important, and capable of doing the right choice while we work. This as a result motivates us to use that autonomy and makes it compelling for us to work hard.
Most of our lives are spent working and having the chance to practice the autonomy while working gives us the sense of being in control of not only our efforts, but also our surroundings.
Mastery
Generally speaking, you are not motivated as much in the beginning of something. You make so many mistakes that your performance looks terrible to you and the others around you. You are not that good doing that thing, and as a result, you do not like to do it that much. You might even quit because of the lack of successful attempts in the initial stages.
However, it is important to remind yourself that these failures are normal and that everybody has had their tough times during their beginnings. Experience can not only help you improve your performance, but can also give you the confidence needed to work. Having the confidence will then give you a great sense of pleasure, as you are regularly enjoying successful attempts. These successes will then built up and will probably make you a master of your craft. Once you reach that stage, you are usually inspired to work, as your mastery is usually needed for a lot of other people. Thus, you feel as a significant person of the society in which you live in and even more.
Conclusion
We all want to be motivated, so it is important to know the factors that contribute to it. However, knowledge is not power. Knowledge is only a portion of the equation of power. Knowledge that is executed represents the real power.
Now that you know about 3 pillars of motivation, make the intention to apply what you have just learnt in your own lives.
