This blog post is for Christian entrepreneurs and spiritual leaders who seek motivation strategies that will last. I used to think motivation was about getting and holding on to an energy that helps you get things done right away.  I now know that it is more than that.  Let us grow our perspectives to understand how motivation is a complicated arrangement of growth opportunities.

 

If I were to hurl out a few motivation tips I would say:

Read good books about motivation

Listen to motivational speakers

Create habits that help you get the work done

Start a morning routine that supports your energy goals

Move Your body

Eat Healthy

Drink Plenty of water

 

All of these things are important, but I want to express the importance of doing  deeper soul work.  It is important to do the deeper work in order to create the lasting results.  

You must:

#1 Study Yourself, Your situation, and your environment.

#2 Stay in the right environment.

#3 Keep Seeking Growth Opportunities.

#4 Seek Peace with Jesus.

 

I want to go deeper into understanding how motivation works because I am doing some soul work right now.  I want to know the importance of caring for the soul and how that relates to how one is motivated to move through this world of chaos and confusion.  I can approach this talk about motivation from many different levels.  When I first think of motivation, I reflect on the time I listened to motivational speakers as my soul food. Jim Rohn, Les Brown, and Zig Ziglar were some of my first encounters with motivational speaking.  It worked for me in the short term but it also became an addiction that easily set me into depression. If I did not continuously increase my fill I would be down for the count.  I warn against motivation practices like this.

 

I am a person who believes in the importance of sharing inspiration and motivation to keep living life.  I do believe that Jesus Christ is the ultimate motivation to increase our faith to live an abundant life.  Ironically, I am a Christian blogger who left my church of 17years. The growth that was happening in my inner spirit was no longer supported by the environment I found myself in, so I had to leave. 

 

I believe that everyone should have access to the truth of the word of God and that everyone is free to experience their life journey.  I no longer attend my home church, but have found a new church that helps to support my growth and connection to the Holy Spirit.  With that said, I am not much of a rule abider, but more of a thinker.  So, I explore, I read, and I study to show myself approved.  

 

How to stay Motivated:  Study Yourself, Your Situation, and Your Environment.

 

I am currently a doctoral student in the field of Philosophy of Psychology with a focus in Cognitive Instruction.  What does that mean exactly?  It means that I am interested in how the mind works, in how it processes information, and in how it makes decisions. I also find it to be an important task to understand how the mind is influenced by motivation.  What is it that drives me to do the things that I do?  What helps me achieve my goals? What helps me do the work that I do?

 

I study about motivation on a scientific level:

 

Bandura’s (2001) presentation of social cognitive theory shows the complicated systems of the human consciousness by highlighting the many avenues of experiences one can have. Thinking is a part of the human experience. Social cognitive theory explores how thinking is developed through the influence of one’s environment. When we start to look at what makes someone successful, we are exploring more than just the cause and effect of outside stimuli, we must examine a whole picture of what determines this success (Bandura, 2001).  We also explore what drives behavior through human thinking and reasoning.  Bandura’s (2001) explanation of self-efficacy suggests that success takes planning, goal setting, and self motivation to encourage oneself to overcome.

How to stay Motivated:  Stay in the right environment.

 

I study motivation through a spiritual level:

What exactly are we trying to overcome?

Why do we need motivation to overcome?

These words of overcome remind me of when Jesus said: “Take heart, I have overcome the world.”

 

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

 

I understand that as I encounter new information from this world, my faith will be challenged.  However, I am also learning that the challenge helps me to grow as a person.  That growth motivates me to keep going.  If you are not growing you're dying. I keep my faith because it gives me a vision for the future.  Remember, if you don’t have a vision then you die.  This is why I continue with my studies.  If I did not, then I would fold back into ignorance.  I want to know the Lord and so I diligently seek him in spirit and in truth.  I seek him with my soul.

 

Through my doctoral experience to achieve this degree, I understand how important it is to be around a group of like minded individuals with similar goals.  More important than being in this type of environment, is to be aware of the unique opportunities of learning available in such a potential filled space of growth. If one does not appreciate his space of growth, he might miss the opportunity to learn from his environment.  If one does not know where he is going, then how can he know what he is supposed to be learning? Hence, I agree with Bandura (2001) and the importance of having a mindset to think through planning, to be a self motivator, and to be able to self-reflect. These are the tools that I plan to hone in on and grow in. These are necessary to be successful in my plans to achieve. One cannot grow in an environment where there is no food to feed him, and so it is with the knowledge that we are receiving from this program. The capacity to observe and absorb the information will only grow through using tools such as setting goals (more importantly writing them down), knowing your reason why (your true motivation) and self-reflection (journaling/review/ meditation). These are the tools that I am going to use to constantly grow in my academic research and writing.

 

How to stay motivated: Keep Seeking Growth Opportunities

 

I was asked recently about what I do in times that I don’t feel motivated

I always try to remember to speak to myself in a way that does not condemn, shame, or ridicule my current performance.  I tell myself that life is a journey and that I am moving forward at my own pace so I am always exactly where I am supposed to be.  When times get ruff or I feel unmotivated to take the next step, I tell myself that if God brought me to it, he will bring me through it.  I think my faith and the way that I was taught has built up a confidence that does not waiver by the way that things look around me.  I know that I have family, mentors, and friends that support me and that will motivate me to keep going.  I often turn  to these people in my life to talk to, vent to, or just conversate as an option to experience “talk therapy.”  When this option is not available to me I find that writing is very cathartic.  I write my blog, or I write in my journal.  I feel like creative expression is my go to strategy when I need motivation.  I have prayer journals, art journals, gratitude journals, and regular note journals.  I think writing through my thoughts, around my thoughts, about my thoughts, and from my thoughts is a beautiful way to find my motivation for what I really want. A common journal prompt for me is “What do you want?”  As I work through my thoughts I always come back to the same thing, I want peace.  I have found peace in Jesus Christ so that is my home base.  Knowing and building a relationship with Jesus is where my peace lives and it is where I want to be.

 

How to stay motivated:  Seek peace with Jesus.

 

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/docview/205845107?accountid=7374

 

 

 

This blog is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming of his Kingdom.  Therefore all content is God centered and adheres to the word of God.  My Goal is to motivate you to find your purpose.