3 Dark Ways to Motivate Yourself…

… different sources for force of will.

Disclaimer: If you’re already content and happy, then finding ways to motivate yourself is somewhat redundant. Equating achievement with self-worth is dangerous and misguided. Motivating yourself via positivity, passion and good intentions is equally as powerful as any other approach.

1. Fear

Motivation is often discussed when it comes to competition for obvious reasons, so let’s start there. Champions are defined as much by their hatred of losing as they are by their love of winning. After all, fear is a great motivator for humans, from an evolutionary perspective negative experiences hit us harder than positive ones and this can be useful when incorporated into a strategy. Leaning into the negative feelings you might feel when losing or not meeting your goal can be the difference maker in the moment between putting in that extra effort or giving up.

This is hardly new or surprising, so what’s the issue with it? Well, the issue is equally obvious. To master motivation you need to balance seemingly contradictory concepts and approaches such as: Lean into the negative emotions you’ll feel by failing, yet never, even for a second, beat yourself up about actually failing. Possess and act with immense self-confidence, yet be fundamentally humble in your approach and…