Motivation is what leads us to behave in certain ways. A person is normally motivated by the concept of 'reward' and this can be 'tangible' i.e. physical things such as money, food, house or 'intangible' i.e. feelings such as pride, self-worth, satisfaction.

There has been much psychological exploration and explanation of motivation and there are many theories on drive, needs and desires. Motivation can be described as 'intrinsic' and 'extrinsic'. Intrinsic motivation is where it comes from inside you and extrinsic is where it comes from other people.

Intrinsic motivation does not rely or depend on external factors.

A study was carried out with students and it was established that 3 key elements need to be present in successful students:

A true sports champion will compete for the love of the sport although trophies and accolades represent subsequent extrinsic incentives.

Self-control and self-belief are key to intrinsic motivation. In order to choose the right behaviour to complete a particular task, a person must be able to exert control and choice over a myriad of possible distractions. In order to dedicate time towards a particular activity, a person must have the self-belief (rightly or wrongly) that they have the ability and resources to carry out that activity.

Money is the key extrinsic motivator, meaning that people will work unhappily in jobs in order to receive money to enable them to do and have the things they want. Motivation in the work-place is a huge subject in itself and it is obvious that when people are intrinsically motivated they will be far more effective employees.

There are times when a person's belief and behaviour are not in harmony and it can be difficult to establish the motivation. A person may not recognise their own motivations for continuing with a certain behaviour. A good example of such cognitive dissonance is a person who continues to smoke although they wish to be healthy and they also believe smoking damages health.

We all know that feeling motivated feels good. Having experienced the positive emotions associated with feeling 'motivated' it can be a shock for people to recognise that they have 'lost' their motivation. There can be many reasons for this as feelings of motivation depend on the balance of different psychological elements. These will be different for different people and each element can equally grow or diminish. Hypnotherapy will enable you to explore your inner landscape and gain insight into how your motivations may have changed and altered. Therapeutic techniques, hypnotic interventions and self-hypnosis will all be key in enabling you to re-build motivation and effect the positive changes you require in order to live a more satisfying and fulfilling life.

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