Exploring motivational techniques

As I mentioned in the previous post, lack of motivation is not confined to one personality type. I’m sure that most of us (shy or outgoing) have had to deal with motivational challenges at some point in our lives. The reason I decided to tackle this first, was that it would prevent me from implementing any plans that I made to overcome SA.

There are probably hundreds of books out there on motivation (maybe thousands), and it’s not my place to pretend that I know everything (or anything) about the subject. After all, there are experts that have devoted their lives to writing about motivation.

Many methods have the same underlying principles: goal setting, action plans, willpower, organizational skills, time management, routines, working smarter, overcoming procrastination, subject interest, aptitude, measuring success, and rewards.

Personally, I have read dozens of books on the subject – not to mention listening to a few tapes here and there. I’ve tried many of the methods outlined in these books and each has had a different degree of success. I suppose it depends on the personality type – some methods work well with some personalities, and not others. For example, there are a few books written about motivation in the sales/corporate environment. Obviously these are written for the more outgoing personality, to say the least.

However, I eventually did find a method that seemed to work. It’s the result of trial and error and being aware of what was working, and what was not. Keep in mind - what works for me, may not necessarily work for you. I’m simply reporting on the way in which I personally handled lack of motivation.

I didn’t use the goal setting – planning – implementation – willpower – measurement – adjustment – success formula, as written in so many books these days. Not that these methods are not successful, they just didn’t seem to work for me.

I used a way of thinking that I eventually applied to every aspect of my social anxiety disorder. The application of this technique is something that was custom made for my specific problems. It was a low-key, under-the-radar, approach – perfect for my personality type.

I called this the “divide by 2” rule. I’ll explain a little more about it in upcoming posts.

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