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Motivation
We do what we do, everything that we do, because of conscious or subconscious motivation.
Power and Control.
Imagine driving a car. That car is designed to take you where you want to or need to go. That car basically has a source of power (the engine) and a way to direct that power (the steering wheel).
Without a suitable engine your car is useless and without a steering wheel your car is both useless and too dangerous to use.
Of course, there's more to getting places than power and direction but this very simple metaphor can give a vital insight into where motivation comes from and how to use it to best achieve what you to do.
Subconscious Motivation.
The subconscious mind is not under our direct control but is in charge of our emotions, which are guiding our behaviour every minute that we are awake. Our emotions (love, fear, anger, etc.) are also called our passions (or psychological 'affect'). They are the engine of our reactive mind and provide our energy. But even our subconscious mind also uses direction to try to produce an appropriate end result. At its most simple, 'attention' is the basic means used by our subconscious mind to have us direct our passion to get stuff done.
Our subconscious mind gives us thirst and thoughts of water. Our subconscious gives us lust and directs our attention onto a suitable potential partner. Our subconscious mind gives us anger and thoughts of that which is 'wrong'.
Though powerful, there are a couple of big problems with only following the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is limited in its understanding and subtlety and easily makes mistakes or urges us into inappropriate behaviour. Also, the subconscious mind, by definition, is not directly available to us making it difficult to influence, let alone control.
Conscious Motivation.
Where the subconscious mind uses emotion and attention to provide power and direction, the conscious mind uses determination and purpose.
Determination originates in will-power, a conscious choice or commitment hopefully based on some form of logical reasoning.
Purpose is an aspiration or aim which defines our objective and also provides a context for all our other day-to-day choices. With a big and well-defined purpose we give ourselves greater potential to achieve much more over time than if we just follow our daily inclinations.
Challenges and Potentials.
This model for motivation is overly simplified (for example it does not yet include the role of intuition nor the role of routine and habits) but it begins to give some enlightenment about how to identify what some common challenges are and how to set about solving them.
One big challenge is how to resolve conflicts within our motivations. What happens when, say, our conscious choice is to work really hard all day but our subconscious gives us hunger? What happens when, say, when we have planned a relaxed night out with a loved one and they keep picking a fight with us? What happens, say, when we think that we have been following our purpose but over time we come to realise that it now seems unachievable?
Another challenge is how to generate or even identify purpose and determination. How do we do that?
And how about mental illness? How can we use conscious and subconscious motivations to make some sense of our experiences, to heal, and to get on with our lives with more confidence and hope?
All these questions can be answered, at least to some extent.