5 Questions that Self Motivate

Why did I do that? Undoubtedly you have asked yourself this question. Probably when you made a bonehead mistake. Did you know you hit upon the most important question you can ask yourself for living an intentional life?

As I strive to be more purposeful, I find that I must continually probe my actions, thoughts, and feelings. Last week I was tasked with making some arrangements. I dutifully identified the people with whom I needed to speak, obtained their contact information, checked the time difference between our locations, and figured out the proper time to call them. Returning to my office late that afternoon to make the calls, and finding my colleagues had already left and locked up, I realized I did not have my keys. Knowing I had to work late tomorrow anyway, I decided to postpone the calls by a day.

A perfectly reasonable decision, is it not?

What if I add that it would have taken less than 15 minutes to retrieve my keys? Did I forget to mention I find it difficult to call strangers and ask them to do things I dislike doing?

1. Why am I so motivated to do certain things? Of course, you like the activity, but why? What thoughts or images does it create in your mind? How does it impact your emotions? What aspects of it can be brought to jobs you detest?


2. Why do I avoid some tasks like the plague? Do not settle for the rationalization you use to wriggle out of an assignment, look more deeply. What negative associations does it raise? Which disturbing feelings does it evoke? How can you counteract these detrimental influences?


3. Why did I just act that way? You probably did not mean to speak condescendingly. Were you even aware of it? Most difficult to control are the behaviors to which you are habituated. You need to be especially attuned to other people’s reactions.


4. Why am I having such thoughts about this person or task? Specifically, what do you find mentally engaging or repulsive? What connections to the past is your mind making? You cannot control your thoughts so they give you a window into your motivations.


5. What am I feeling right now? Why? How come you are feeling blue? Was it brought on by an activity or something you heard like a song? While sometimes inexplicable, often emotions are triggered. When you better understand them, you improve your responses so as to reduce their negative impact and bring yourself to a more positive state of mind.

[Tweet "Socrates said, 'The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living.'"]

Question – What questions do you ask yourself to be more self-motivated?
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