It’s possible to have a strong desire to achieve something, but to not have the motivation to get there

Think Your Way to Motivation

Hadassah Eventsur

AS a coach for women who struggle with executive functioning, a common question I get asked is: “Why am I so ‘lazy’?” and “How can I increase my motivation?”

There are many factors that impact our motivational levels. In this article, I’m going to focus on the thought processes behind the desire to achieve a goal.

Most people think that motivation is related to desire: The more you want to achieve a goal, the more motivation you will have to make it happen. In truth, desire and motivation are different things. It’s possible to have a strong desire to achieve something, but to not have the motivation to get there. For example, someone may have a strong desire to get fit, but they lack the motivation to exercise and eat healthy. A person may really want to meet their bashert, but lack the motivation to go out on dates.

Our thoughts have power. The more we think about something, the more we act on it. Motivation requires two things: 1) the ability to keep a desire at the forefront of our mind over an extended period of time and 2) the ability to overcome our automatic habits and act intentionally. So to work out before starting our day, we need to keep the desire to be fit in our mind, day in, day out, and we need to overcome our habit of sleeping late and actually get up early to exercise.