Motivation is a driving force that initiates and guides us to achieve what we want. It can be applied to everything in our daily lives, from just getting up from our comfy and cozy couches to quench our thirst by getting a glass of water to accomplishing our long-term goals and dreams to live a happy, healthy, and successful life. Motivation drives human action and describes the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces influencing behavior.
Motivation can come from plenty of sources, and it all depends on how we channel them and use them to work towards our goals and accomplish them in the end. We, as human beings, tend to rely more on positive means of motivation ourselves, but did you know that negative means of inspiration are significantly more powerful and can drive individuals to accomplish their goals effectively and even sometimes within short periods? Let me give you an example. Ever heard of the popular “Sharmaji ka Beta” phrase? This isn’t just some random line you may have heard in school or seen in memes. As a child, this is the line that would have triggered your emotional senses and made you experience your first form of negative motivation. The phrase mentioned is just a classic example of how Indian parents usually compare us with other kids of our age. Sometimes it even gets prolonged till our adulthood. If your parents have never done this to you, then you’ve probably been one of the luckiest people on Earth.
While the example given above is very well-known in a long line of motivation techniques, there are still a few unexplored means of motivation that have personally been my driving forces to work harder, achieve more, and be a more refined person every single day. Not many people would be aware of them or would have tried those techniques, where we talk about them. Just to clarify, the methods that I will be elaborating on would seem slightly controversial, and not all of you might agree with them, let alone follow them.
1. Bucket List
Have you ever thought that creating a bucket list for yourselves can drastically change your life for the better? It’s true. This is a positive form of motivation that isn’t really discussed much or used practically. A bucket list is basically a list of achievements and experiences one aims to accomplish during their lifetime. Making your own list will enhance your motivation to work hard and do whatever it takes to achieve your goals and dreams. The feeling of striking each completed task or purpose will be profound and surreal, and you will be further motivated to achieve your other goals and add more to your list.
2. Fear
Fear has proven to be another source of motivation that individuals use. All of us have at least one thing we all fear in our lives, such as heights, snakes, spiders, death, etc. The fear of losing someone we love will be worse than all others. We even fear our own future because of all the uncertainties before us. However, anxiety can be leveraged as a tool for motivation. As humans, we tend to make mistakes, but learning from them and being determined makes us better people. When we accept reality and believe we can fight through it, we will be more motivated to face our fears and overcome them.
3. Disrespect
Being disrespected by family, friends, and society can take an emotional toll. It undermines our worth, potential, and abilities. People can be rude sometimes, and no matter where we go, at least one person will demotivate and bring us down for their own pleasure or selfish gains. The disrespect we get can be used to motivate ourselves to become better. Self-love and self-validation are the ones that matter more than the validation we get from society. It helps us scan through and understand our flaws to work towards eliminating them. We can cut ties or distance ourselves from the people who do not respect or value us. Still, if it is deemed impossible, we can face it and work towards being better versions of ourselves. Success is the best revenge, and once we reach that point, we will be respected by the people around us.
4. Jealousy
As human beings, we are naturally programmed to feel jealous, whether we like to admit it or not. Jealousy is a part of human emotion. We think that towards people who are more good-looking, richer, and successful than us. We do our best to not express it because we do not wish to be humiliated or garner sympathy from others. I’m sure whenever you see your friends or family members partying or going on expensive tours, it would be difficult to digest watching Instagram posts and stories of them enjoying and traveling around. This jealousy can also be channeled to motivate us to try to turn our lives around and work harder so that we can get the same opportunities.
Hence, motivation can come from both positive and negative sources. The negative references are not given enough credit and consideration since some perceive them as unhealthy ways of gaining inspiration. But sometimes, these methods do work well and should be given the same weight as how people are motivated through positive means daily. Negative emotions will demotivate people, and some may not have the courage and strength to channel that into motivation and self-development. But at the end of the day, all of us are unique and special in our own ways. We have the right and ability to choose how we feel and how we wish to be motivated to achieve our goals and fulfill our dreams.
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