Body, Mind & Motivation: Happiness Through Motivation

How do you define happiness?  For many people, happiness seems to be provisional.  We all wish for things that we don’t currently possess, and we all want something.  Whether it is to get in shape, establish a dream career, meet the perfect life partner, etc., waiting for whatever it is we seek can be a long journey.

Throughout my life, I have come to learn that the enduring characteristics of a person strongly influences their personal happiness; instead of what they have, or what they do.  According to an article from Psychology Today, self-esteem, optimism, extroversion, and personal control are the main traits that a happy person seizes.  While some people are born with these traits, others can still achieve these things if it is recognized as an unnatural occurrence to that person, and that these are the attainable, if desired.  While life doesn’t come with directions for achieving personal growth and achievement, there is a way to make the journey exhilarating.

What many people do not realize is that there are specific steps in taking the right measures and making sure that every goal is successfully implemented.  No matter what your vision of happiness may be, the underlying component is, and always will be your motivation.

Motivation theories, such as the Self-determination Theory (SDT), explain the components of human motivation factors and personality.  It is concerned with the choices people make without any external influence.  Therefore, the SDT helps determine the degree of an individual’s behavior, and to what extent that behavior is self-motivated, and self-determined.  There are three steps within the SDT, and they consist of Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness.

Autonomy

Autonomy is defined as freedom of choice. The level of experienced autonomy is high when an individual feels that they are engaging in something, because it is their choice, and not because someone else forces them to.  Those who self-engage in an activity do so because they enjoy the feeling of the gratification it provides them.  This is a rewarding component in their effort to repeating those steps, so they are most likely to implement it into their lifestyle.

It is the repetitive consistency of an action that constructs a lifestyle.  Consistency is crucial in building a solid foundation for the success that will lead to accomplishing a goal.  This approach is most useful, only when it is acknowledged as being a positive reinforcement factor.  The realization that this factor can be used towards a goal is an important step in building self-motivation.

Competence

Competence is important in finding the feeling of self-worth within us.  Think about the things in which you are the most successful.  The skills that are developed by the repetition, of which you’re the best at, can be recognized as another tool for attaining consistency.  Envision the feeling of being competent in whatever it is that you want.  First, you must learn to accept that “failing” at something is a part of gaining competency.  A common trait that successful people share is that, the more you fail, the higher your success rate.  The beauty of this is that, competence in anything that you envision is something that CAN be achieved.  Applying this step of seeking competence will guide you towards increasing your motivation and higher success rates.

Relatedness

Humans innately crave acceptance from those who belong to a specific group that have the same interest, so this feeling of belonging positively reinforces the drive for competency and consistency.  Relatedness is the sense of feeling that is connected and associated with others through a common origin.  This coincides with both Autonomy and Competence.  Placing yourself around people who share your common goals, or interests will help your motivation factor to help you increase your level of competency.  The saying, “you become like the people you hang out with the most” is completely accurate in this sense.

Place yourself with those who encourage you, excite you, and positively reinforce you.  Take time to really think about these things.  The more you can understand and relate the SDT to your life, the easier it will become to achieve any goal it is you want from the increased sense of well-being that is brought about from this process.