Are you someone who is driven by the energy of your own soul? Do you follow your personal curiosities? Maybe, you find that honoring your personal desires and in-the-moment needs is the most powerful motivating force in your life.
Or maybe, you find yourself chasing after one dangling carrot after another. Everything that fires you up is external to you ~ driven by other people and the hope of some outer achievement.
Perhaps, you can relate to both experiences. Most of us do have a variety of motivating factors that propel us toward the experiences and activities ~ the people and the projects ~ that we wish to manifest in our lives.
Determining what holds the most meaning and energy for us is an important aspect of understanding how we operate and refining what we commit ourselves to both within our beings and outside.
As a Service Provider, what motivated you toward this role? Regardless of how long you have identified as a Service Provider, can you recall what it was like for you when you first heard that call? Do you still hear the call? Has it changed over time? And if so, how?
What motivates us does change over time and through life experience. If we are paying attention, we will notice when a shift occurs to tell us that what was once extremely important no longer holds the same weight.
Is it An Inside Job?
I find it super helpful to look at motivators from an intrinsic and extrinsic perspective. Intrinsic motivators are those things that exist within us ~ such as passion and curiosity ~ unconditional love and desire for connection. These motivators have nothing to do with the object of our affections or the target of our curiosities, but rather, are simply about expression of the feeling. Intrinsic motivation is about the experience of the moment as opposed to any specific outcome.
Extrinsic motivators are those things that exist outside of us that fuel our decision to act. Things like the pay cheque, the admiration, the attention from someone else, and the approval of others. Extrinsic motivators are very focused on specific outcomes. We are doing something for the sake of getting something in one form or another as opposed to doing it for the sheer joy of the experience.
Most of us have a combination of both types of motivators at play in our lives. So, this is not about judging our motivators, it is about seeking clarity around what motivates us so we can honor those that are most powerful in our lives.
What motivates us is also connected to our deepest values so it is well worth the time to reflect upon what you hold most dear in your life at this time. As it is with motivating factors, our value priorities change over time and through experience as well. What I valued as a teenager may not be as important to me anymore as I step into the second half of my life.
Reviewing the most powerful values for you right now creates clarity around the motivators that will hold the most energy for you now.
As we find congruence between our values and motivators, we become more able to connect to our sense of inspiration, as it exists right now. In this place of awareness and alignment, a clear path opens toward your personal philosophical approach to life and service. And this makes way for a declaration of your intended contribution.
Join Me
In the next episode of Serving Consciously, we will take this conversation a step further. I’ll offer some guidance around creating awareness with regard to values and motivations most active in your life at this time. Then we will follow through with exercises and activities that help us to create a statement of Personal Philosophy that can become a powerful declaration in your life ~ a declaration that can lead you toward the fulfillment of your calling.
Please plan to tune in on Friday April 13, 2018 at 12pm PST at www.ctrnetwork.com.
Let’s get started!
Are you aware of what drives you in your life ~ the energy behind the choices you make and the actions you take?
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