Motivating oneself is really hard, to a certain extent personal. We may seem to have a natural aversion to persistent efforts that no amount of caffeine or inspirational posters can fix! Whenever possible, we can select goals that trigger intrinsic, rather than extrinsic motivation. An activity is intrinsically motivated when it’s seen as its own end (e.g. walking for fitness). It’s extrinsically motivated when it’s seen as serving a separate purpose (e.g. a pay check). Intrinsic motives predict achievement, joy & success.
In an ideal world, we can seek roles, environments & assignments that we can enjoy for higher levels of encouragement & engagement. If not, is there a subset, an element of the job that’s inspiring or enjoyable? It’s worth focusing on self-learning, self-growth & self-care. We can think expansively to showcase our talent, to build partnerships. We can think with openness & optimism. We can break big goals into smaller sub goals for sustainable focus & preservation of positive energy. We need to tap into our intuition, our passion, courage, creativity & curiosity to harness the power of intrinsic motivation.