Let me ask you one important question:

How low can you go?

No, I’m not talking about your flexibility while executing yoga poses.

Nor am I talking about hitting an emotional low.

 

When I’m asking you “how low can you go”, I have your intrinsic motivation in mind.

I’m thinking about what it takes for you to get out of bed and have a positive outlook towards your days and what you do with them,  especially when you’re committed to work with impact and meaning.

 

Doing good  – for how many?

 

I know that many of my loyal Followers are looking for creating positive impact in this world. In one way or the other.

Through their commitment they want to change other people’s lives. To transform and improve them.

And I’m sure you’re one of them.

So what get’s you out of bed in the morning is the wish to make a difference, to tackle challenges and turn them into opportunities.

 

There’s nothing more rewarding than knowing your work is changing the lives of others, for the better. 

But there comes a time for almost everyone where certain questions emerge.

Questions like:

How many people do I really reach or impact?

Does my work really matter?

Is my work seen, at all?

And if we don’t pay attention, those questions can start to undermine and sabotage our intrinsic motivation, slowly but surely.

 

You determine your numbers – hence your motivation

 

So in case you feel a dip in motivation, in case those questions circle your mind, then it’s time for a honest check-in with yourself.

What numbers do you need?

How many people do you need to impact in order to perceive your work as meaningful, purposeful and transformational. How much change do you need to see happening in order to stay motivated and on track.

1000? 100? Or maybe just 1? 

The answers is a very individual answer.

But it’s also an answer that says a lot about how you value your work. And how you value yourself.

 

Intrinsic motivation  is always connected to intrinsic esteem and appreciation for what you’re doing.

 

So do you truly value what you’re doing or do you need other’s to give you the “seal of approval”?

Does creating positive impact only starts above a certain threshold or is impacting one life enough?

 

Really important reflections, especially for people who’re just starting out.

It can be tough in the beginning.

We start full of motivation, idealism, huge values and aspirations for how we want to change the world, but then, as the months pass by, motivations is shrinking.

Because our project didn’t get the expected funding. Or because some training or workshop didn’t sell out, or worse, was cancelled. Or because people resist our suggestions and offerings because they naturally resist change. Or, or, or.

There’s so much that can happen when we’re throwing our mission and ourselves out there in the world for the very first time. So much external resistance or external indifference.

So that’s when it’s most important to rely on what’s intrinsic. Because this is what’s solely in our hands.

 

Especially when starting out, especially when you’re putting much more out there in the world than you’re receiving, you need to know your worth. And the worth of your work.

A project’s not worth less because it wasn’t funded. 

A training is not less transformative just because it wasn’t sold out on the first attempt.

A blog post is not less meaningful just because it didn’t get as much likes as you thought it would get.

But you allow it to be less meaningful, impactful or transformative if you only care about the numbers.

 

So how low can you you go?

 

This is a key question. Especially when your motivations hits a low. Especially when you’re putting so much out in the world and there’s not much coming back at first.

Well, let me put it this way.

We entered this work & life path because we’re determined to give and to serve, right?

To give full heartedly and unconditionally.

Because this is our way of understanding life’s purpose.

And because we understand that we’ll always receive in return.

Not as a conditional, bilateral transaction. But in a broader and more holistic understanding of our being.

And as being part of a larger movement to drive and promote Well-doing and Well-being through our daily actions and through being an example and role model.

No numbers needed for this!

So what could be a greater inner motivation? 

 

 

 

 

Are you still lost in finding out what truly motivates you? And how to build this intrinsic motivation?

Don’t worry. Gaining clarity and understanding how you create intrinsic motivation, over and over again, is at the heart of my Life Designing Online School.

And at the heart of being a Life Designer.

So why don’t you join?