Print and read this article about self motivation

MOTIVATING YOURSELF
From Your Attitude Is Showing, by Elwood N. Chapman and Sharon Lund O’Neil
“It is asking too much to suggest that people motivate themselves
in the work environment. Motivation should come from the supervisor,
special rewards, or the job itself.”
Many people would disagree with the preceding quotation. They
would claim that self-motivation is an absolute necessity in many work
environments. They would also claim that the more you can learn
about motivation, the more you understand yourself and, as a result,
the more you will be in a position to inspire your own efforts.
Let’s assume
that you find
yourself in a job
where things are
not going well.
You feel stifled
and “boxed in.”
You may, for
example, be much
more capable
than the job
demands. Perhaps
too, the pay and benefits are only average, your immediate supervisor
is 10 difficult to deal with, and some other factors are not ideal. Even
so, you consider the organization a good one and you recognize that
by earning promotions your long-term future can be excellent.
How can you inspire yourself to do a better-than-average job
despite the temporary handicaps How can you motivate yourself to
live close to your potential despite a negative environment How can
you keep your attitude from showing How can you keep from injuring
important human relationships
There are many theories or schools of thought on why people are
motivated to achieve high productivity on the job. Most of these are
studied by managers so that they will be in a better position to
motivate the employees who work for them. In this chapter we are
going to reverse the procedure. We are going to show you how to
motivate yourself. If your supervisor can be trained to motivate you,
why can’t you learn to motivate yourself
THEORY 1: SELF-IMAGE PSYCHOLOGY
This is frequently called the PsychoCybernetics School. The proponent
of this theory is Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon. The basic idea is
that, in order to be properly motivated to achieve certain goals, an
individual must recognize the need for a good self-image. Dr. Maltz
discovered in his work as a plastic surgeon that some patients became
much more self-confident and far more motivated after having their
faces greatly improved. Why Maltz came to the conclusion that the
image the individual had of himself (or herself) inside was more
motivating than the changes he had made outside. In short, the way an
individual thinks he or she looks can be more important than the way
he or she actually looks to others.
How Can You Use This Theory to Motivate Yourself Learn to picture
yourself in a more complimentary way. First, research has shown that
most people who have poor self-images actually do look better to
others than they do to themselves. If this is true of you, you might try
concentrating on your strong features instead of the weak ones, thus
developing a more positive outlook and a better self-image.
Second, you might consider improving yourself on the outside as
well as on the inside. You may not want to go as far as plastic surgery,
but you could change your hairstyle, dress differently, lose or gain
weight, exercise, and many other things. According to the theory
however, unless you recognize and accept the improvement, nothing
may happen. PsychoCybernetics is, of course, a do-it-yourself project.
You do all the workand you get all the credit, too!
THEORY 2: MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
This is a very old theory developed by Abraham Maslow in his book
Motivation and Personality. The premise here is that you have certain
needs that must be fulfilled if you are to be properly motivated. These
needs are built one on top of the other as in a pyramid.
The bottom need is physiological—food, good health. The next is
safety and security. The third from the bottom is social needs: one
needs to be accepted and enjoy the company of others. Next are ego
needs—recognition from others. Finally, at the pinnacle, is one’s need
for self-fulfillment or self-realization.

The crux of this theory is that the bottom needs must be fulfilled
before the others come into play. In other words, you must satisfy your
need for food and security before social needs become motivating. You
must satisfy social and ego needs before selffulfillment is possible.
How Can You Use This Idea to Motivate Yourself to Reach Goals
If you believe Maslow is right, it would be self-defeating to
reverse the pyramid or “skip over” unsatisfied needs to reach
others. Chances are good, however, that your first two
needs are being adequately satisfied so you could make a
greater effort to meet new people and make new friends.
This could, in turn, help to satisfy your ego needs. With
both your social and ego needs better satisfied you might
be inspired to attempt greater creative efforts which
could eventually lead you to greater self-realization.
THEORY 3: PSYCHOLOGICAL ADVANTAGE
This school was founded by Saul W. Gellerman. It contends that people
constantly seek to serve their own self-interests, which change as they
grow older. People can make their jobs work for them to give them a
psychological advantage over other people at the same level. The way
to create a psychological advantage in a starting job that is beneath
your capacity is to learn all there is about that job. That way, you can
use the job as a springboard to something better, a position that will
give you more freedom and responsibility.
How Could You Use This to Inspire Yourself The best way,
perhaps, is to be a little selfish about your job. Work for the
organization and yourself at the same time. Instead of letting your job
control you, perhaps pulling you and your attitude down, use it as a
launching pad. Use it to build human relations that will be important
later on. Study the structure of your organization so you will
understand the lines of progression better than the other employees.
Study the leadership style of your supervisor and others so that you
will have a better one when your turn comes.
THEORY 4: MOTIVATION-HYGIENIC SCHOOL
This theory was developed by Professor Frederick Herzberg. Basically it
claims that undesirable environmental factors (physical working
conditions) can be dissatisfiers. Factors of achievement, recognition,
and freedom, on the other hand, are satisfiers. All working
environments have both negative and positive factors.
How Can You Take Advantage of This Theory People who
maintain positive attitudes under difficult circumstances do so through
attitude control. They concentrate only on the positive factors in their
environment. You can, for instance, refuse to recognize the
demotivating factors in your job and concentrate only on those
things that will satisfy your needs better.
This could mean a de-emphasis on physical factors and
more emphasis on psychological factors such as social, ego,
and self-fulfillment needs. One individual puts it this way: “I
work in a very old building with poor facilities. Even so I have
learned that I can be happy there because of the work I do
and the great people I work with. One quickly gets used to
fancy buildings and facilities and begins to take them for
granted anyway.”
THEORY 5: THE MAINTENANCE-MOTIVATION THEORY
This school is much like Herzberg’s hygienic approach and was
developed by M. Scott Myers of Texas Instruments, Inc. His research
found that employees usually fall into one of two groups: motivationseekers
and maintenance-seekers. In short, some people look for those
factors that are motivating to them and are constantly pushing
themselves toward fulfillment. Others are concerned with just staying
where they are. Maintenance-seekers spend much time talking about
working conditions, wages, recreational programs, grievances, and
similar matters and do little or nothing to motivate themselves.
Motivationseekers, on the other hand, look beyond such matters.
How Might You Use This to Improve Your Own Motivation
The obvious answer is, of course, to keep yourself out of the
maintenance-seeker classification. To do this you should try not to
overassociate with those in the maintenance classification. Without
your knowing it, they could pull you into their camp. Try also to talk
about positive things instead of being a complainer. Verbalizing
negative factors often intensifies the dissatisfaction one feels. Turn
your attention to things you can achieve on the job-not to the negative
factors.
(1,338 words)