Measuring Commitment and Motivation

I like this part of the book which talks about how we can measure commitment and motivation.

The author Jim Winner explains:

Many of us are what could be called "good intenders". We set good goals for ourselves, and we "intend" to accomplish them.

What I understand from this statement is that a "good intender" is different from a "good contender".

"Intend" simply means "to have in mind".

"Contend" means "To strive in opposition or against difficulties".

From these definitions, I would say that the difference between "good intenders" and "good contenders" is COMMITMENT.

Business Coach Marshall Goldsmith shared that there are 5 reasons people do not succeed with their diet and fitness goals:

1. Time - they feel that it takes too much of their time than expected
2. Effort - they find that it's harder than expected, and not worth the effort
3. Distractions - "problems" that emerge and give them reasons to not complete the program
4. Rewards - they don't get as much reward and attention as they hoped for
5. Maintenance - they feel it's hard to maintain that success, thus choosing to give up completely

If we were to look into some of the things that we had started but then chosen to give up on, it's exactly the same reasons we didn't succeed.

Again, the way to ensure we accomplish what we have started, is COMMITMENT. To increase the commitment, we have to first increase the motivation.

Motivation is our "motive or reason for action".

Commitment is "the state of being bound emotionally or intellectually to a course of action".

Here's a formula for motivation by Bonnie St. John Deane which can serve as an ongoing measure of our commitment:

Most of us use this formula intuitively to help us decide what level of effort we will put into something.

Example:

When we start a new business venture, we expect the payoff to be high, the odds of success to be high, and the amount of work to be reasonable in relation to the payoff. According to the formula, our motivation would be positive and possibly high as well. Thus we get excited and commit to take action. 

Then, as we bump into frustration in the business venture, the potential payoff hasn't changed, but the amount of work required may be exceeding our initial perception. With a few setback coming along the way, we would start to perceive our odds of success to have dropped as well. According to the formula, our motivation would drop, possibly even to the extent of having negative motivation. This is when most people give up or cut down on their commitment to their initial goal of succeeding in the new business venture.

If we understand and buy into this idea about commitment and motivation, then we need to consciously remind ourselves to stay in the Positive Cycle and RE-COMMIT to our dreams, instead of going out LOOKING for a new one and repeat the Negative Cycle. (Read here: http://seed-of-thoughts.blogspot.com/2014/01/positive-cycle-vs-negative-cycle.html)

Another thing that I learned from this formula for motivation is that we can always tweak the "numbers" in the formula to help us maintain the positive motivation.

For example, instead of working on a humongously huge goal, why not break it down into smaller achievable goals -- when the goal is smaller, despite the payoff being smaller, the odds of success would increase and the work required would decrease, thus giving us positive motivation.

Personally, understanding how this formula for motivation works has given me a sense of fun in achieving my goals because I can tweak the "numbers" anytime  :)