How to Build and Sustain Motivation Forever

Hello, Alux! Welcome back. In this video, we're debunking all the myths on motivation and talking about what it actually is and how to properly use it. Let's get straight to the point, shall we?

Welcome to Alux! So, let's kick things off with a proper explanation of what motivation actually is. You see, motivation is a more complex feeling than we give it credit for. It's not the rush you feel when you put your mind to something, nor is it the excitement you feel when you're about to do something you truly enjoy. Instead, motivation has four distinct elements.

Side note here: the last element is quite surprising, and no, that's not just bait. The first element is competence, or in other words, believing you've got the ability to complete the thing that you want to achieve. So, imagine there's a flat wall in front of you, and something asks you to climb it with no tools whatsoever. It seems like an impossible task because it is. Since you see no way of climbing the wall and completing the task, well, it's impossible to find any motivation to even try.

This is one of the reasons why people in poor financial situations have a hard time getting out of them. They've got no trust in their own abilities, so they don't even bother thinking about it. The second element of motivation is control. Back in the day, when your mom would tell you to clean your room when you were a kid, you didn't do it because you were motivated to. You did it because you were told to. In other words, you had no control over the situation. You couldn't choose when to do it, how to do it, or what was the desired outcome.

When it's hard to link your actions to desired outcomes, you can't find any motivation to go for it. Corporations are a great example of this. Statistically speaking, most office workers waste most of their time. And why wouldn't they? If they do mediocre work, nobody notices. And if they do great work, again, nobody notices or they do notice, and then they get more work as a reward. The third element is value. Is the thing you're trying to do actually valuable to you? Do you actually need it? Do you have some interest in the reward you'll get from doing the thing? Because if not, you'll find no reason to do it. It's just that simple.

And lastly, this is the surprising element: we've got relatedness. You see, we all want to be associated with a group that we find interesting and inspiring. Think about entrepreneurs, mentors, rags-to-riches athletes, leaders. When you hear these words, something sparks in your mind. It's the desire to be like some of them. The answer to "What do you want to be when you grow up?" is never an individual but a group of people or an idea that's associated with a particular lifestyle.

You see, nobody actually wants to be like a particular rich person; they want to be like a group of people who don't have to worry about money ever again. And they get to do all of those things they wanted to do when they were kids. The desire to be a part of something bigger than you, and in this case, a group of people, is incredibly strong.

When athletes go through rigorous training and discipline, they don't do it to become the next Usain Bolt or the next LeBron James; they do it to become champions of their own right. It's got a very different feeling to it, and with it comes a very different type of energy that some call motivation. For this feeling to be fully charged, you need to hit all four of those elements.

So, that's the true definition of motivation: it's a set of circumstances that together create a pool of energy that you can tap into to become more disciplined and resilient. So, with all this being said, where do you find this type of energy? Where does it come from? Well, there are two sources: there's external motivation, and then there's internal motivation. So, external motivation comes from—you guessed it—external factors.

In most cases, it comes from you feeling like you are not enough. When you're not strong enough to stand up for yourself, or when you're not confident enough to follow your own dreams, or when you're not rich enough to build the life that you want. Essentially, it's when your life sucks, and you're getting tired of it. You finally say, "You know what? Enough is enough!"

You'll learn to hate life to the point where you want to get revenge on existence itself. Like a great person once said, it's a bit of a drastic take, but hey, you get the point. If you look back at your life, you'll find moments when you said, "You know what? I'll show them!" And that's what external motivation feels like. The world makes you feel in a way that you kind of hate, and so you turn that negative energy into positive energy.

But granted, this is just one side of the coin, and it would be a bit silly to wait to feel miserable until you do something about your problems. This is also a temporary source of energy. External motivation is not sustainable, my friend. And that's where internal motivation comes in. You see, as opposed to external motivation, internal motivation comes from within— from your own person. You make a conscious decision to change something for the better.

Nobody tells you to do it, and nobody is forcing you either. It is all you. Now, the best part about this internal motivation is that it's long-lasting. The bad part is it's extremely hard to obtain, and that's because it requires you to do things for your own sake. And we, as humans, well, we're notoriously bad at this.

For some reason or another, a lot of you are still working from home, right? Be honest! Okay, are you still wearing the clothes that you slept in last night? After all, if nobody can see you, well, hey, why not? But you see, doing things for your own sake requires you to hold yourself to higher standards regularly. It requires you to look at something about yourself that you don't like and say, "Why am I doing this? I'm not this kind of person. I'm better than this."

And this level of introspection is rare nowadays because people usually run away from talking to themselves in any meaningful way. And that's a big reason why we started the Alux app. We have lots of these conversations over there, and if you're not with us, what are you waiting for? Go to alux.com/app and get started today!

If you want to truly harvest the full power of your motivation, you need to move past the fear of having difficult conversations with yourself and conquer your fear of honesty. You know that you can do better; you know you've got enough time; you know you're smart enough and capable enough. You also know that it probably won't even be that hard once you get started, which leads us to the biggest hurdle you'll have to jump over: the notorious highly difficult first step.

Look, we all know the first step is the hardest one. People have been waiting for the right moment to do something for the last thousands of years, and it never comes! Okay, the reality is the reason the first step is the hardest is actually pretty simple and straightforward. It's called comfort of the status quo.

You see, we humans are creatures of habit, right? We get used to things being a certain way, and we tend to find it difficult to make changes even if that change is clearly for the better. The comfort of the situation you're already in will always feel better than the changes you have to make. That's why people stay in toxic relationships or at shitty jobs where they're underpaid and disrespected.

If they were to turn back time, they would never pick that choice again. But since they're already in it, well, it is what it is. Your comfort zone is breaking it. It is just as hard as adopting a new one. You'll always find reasons not to challenge your current reality.

Yeah, fine, the job sucks, but it's not that bad; at least you've got somewhere to work, right? Sure, your significant other makes you question the existence of demons, but hey, at least you got a plus one for every event. Yeah, you went a bit overboard lately, and your heart rate is unusual for someone your age, but hey, nowadays it's all about body positivity, right?

There's always going to be a reason to stay well within your comfort zone in any situation, which is why the first step is so incredibly hard. So, how do you move past this? Well, the best solution we found is a mix of sheer willpower and peer pressure.

Look at your inner circle and find things in your friends that you'd also like to do yourself, and tell them, "Hey, that thing you're doing? I want to do that too, but I find it really hard to make the first step. Can you take me with you?" You'd be surprised how quickly people will respond to this.

As for willpower, well, that's all you, baby. Give yourself two slaps on the face and get to it! First, through the discomfort of change, and then take that first step. We believe in you!

And another important thing to remember is to always bounce back. If you've got a misstep, life will happen, and things are not always going to go your way every single time. It's really important not to let one mistake jeopardize all the work that you've done.

When you start using motivation to make changes in your life, think of it like this: "This is who I am from now on," rather than "This is who I am for the next three months." And even if you fall back into your old habits and you somehow manage to put yourself right back at the beginning, don't worry, okay? Know that you've got the experience to make that process even faster this time.

We hope you found this video valuable, Alux, and from now on, you'll use this information as a framework every time you need to tap into this superpower. We'll see you back here tomorrow!