If you know what motivates you, then you have the power to achieve your goals. Whether it be in your personal life or your career, being able to master self-motivation will make a big impact and help you drive for success.
Many leaders and managers are always on the lookout for new and effective ways to motivate their teams and there has been a lot of research conducted in this area. What most experts agree on and what the research points towards is the fact that motivation is very much dependent on the individual. To uncover what motivates each of us, we must first understand our unique needs.
Research points towards two types of human needs:
1. Primary/Biological needs – This is what we need to survive. Food, sleep and water would all fall under this category.
2. Secondary needs – These are psychological needs such as our desire to achieve, to be powerful and to be loved.
Secondary needs are where the key to motivation lies.
If you want to discover what motivates you at work, then take the self-motivation quiz below. Using established personality testing techniques, your answers will be able to generate a list of your top motivators. Armed with this list, you will be ready to take action and get motivated.
Take our Self-Motivation Quiz
Key Areas of Self-Motivation
Winning, competition and success!
You are the kind of person that needs to feel challenged in order to really perform at your best. You always strive for success and like to be a winner. Ideally, you should be in a career that can offer you challenges in order to feel motivated at work. If you are feeling demotivated, then you should set yourself new challenges and goals that you can really focus on. When setting a goal, decide exactly what results you want to achieve so that you can keep these in mind as you propel yourself towards success! Try to establish a changing working environment, because repeating the same old thing will just leave you feeling bored and unmotivated. You should aim to have autonomy in your work so that you have the freedom to take risks and make your own decisions.
Social Recognition, Group Work and Relationships!
You are an enthusiastic people person who likes to be recognised for your achievements. You are a popular team member who is skilled in influencing others. Ideally you should be in a career that involves working in a team and bouncing ideas off others in order to feel motivated at work. If you are feeling demotivated, consider whether there is anything about your working environment that can be changed to make it more friendly and fun. Feeling restricted by regulations and rules may cause you to lack motivation so address this problem by having a discussion with your boss. You are a great ideas person so get yourself into a position that does not suppress your creativity. You should be part of a great team that will allow you to express your ideas.
Cooperation, Helping and Appreciation!
You are a loyal individual who likes helping others. Your calm and patient manner makes you a great support for others who you hope will sincerely appreciate your help. Ideally you should be in a career that offers you a regular routine and a comfortable working environment. If you are feeling demotivated, you should build or improve a peaceful working environment that can offer you stability. Surround yourself with people that you trust and feel comfortable around as this will ensure smooth cooperation. You should also try to get yourself into a steady work pattern and routine that you enjoy.
Knowledge, Expertise and Producing Quality Work!
You are a systematic worker who pays excellent attention to detail. You like to know all the facts and details when making a decision as you value quality and accuracy. Ideally, you should be in a career that offers you a peaceful and organised environment where you can see tasks and projects through to completion. If you are feeling demotivated it could be because you do not feel fully informed. You should, therefore, make an effort to collect all the information you need and establish the facts you require to complete your tasks to perfection. You should ensure that you know exactly what you need to do and have a clear plan that you can follow to achieve it. Try to ensure that you are able to see your projects through to the very end. To get motivated, you should also ensure that all of your work is organised. This way you will know exactly what is expected of you and have a plan in place to get it done.
Are you feeling motivated?
If your still think your motivation could do with a boost take a look at some of our other fantastic motivation articles:
The Psychology of Self-Motivation
Job Search Motivation: Beat the Blues
Or, if you have any motivation tips you’d like to share, leave us a comment below!
