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A 5-Minute Exercise to Find Your Motivation
To get your sense of drive back, reacquaint yourself with your values
A few months ago, I found myself with a crisis of motivation. I’d just left a job and was in no rush to find another. I had a little bit of money to hold me over for a few months. For the first time in my adult life — and possibly the last — I found myself with nothing to do. And there was nothing I wanted to do, either.
It was nice for about two weeks. Then it became weird. I remembered how much I once enjoyed getting things done, my little projects and adventures. Who even was that person? Where did they go?
I needed to get reacquainted with my sense of drive, and fast. To do that, I knew would need to reassess what I wanted. Not my goals. My values.
As it turns out, I was onto something. In a recent New York Times article, writer Cameron Walker describes a psychological concept known as “self-determination theory,” which posits that people can rekindle a sense of motivation when they find ways of linking their to-do list to the principles they care most about.
“When you connect the things that are important to you to the things you need to do — even the drudgeries — you can feel more in control of your actions,” writes Walker. “What do you love about your work? What core value does it meet?”
Walker goes on to cite an Albuquerque motivational speaker and poet named Tanaya Winder, who recommends taking a moment to write those things down.
Which is exactly what I did. On a long subway ride from Brooklyn to the Bronx, in my barely-legible longhand, I made a point-form list of the qualities that make an activity feel satisfying to me. Off the top of my head, the list included things like “usefulness,” “progress,” and “curiosity rabbit-hole.” Perhaps your list would have different words, or even full sentences.
I did not know about self-determination theory, but I instinctively understood that I had to remind myself what makes me tick — especially after a really tough, pandemic-shaped year. The exercise took all of five minutes, and it worked. At the end of it, I was surprised by a feeling I’d almost forgotten.
I felt excitement.
When you know what matters to you, it’s easy to find ways to seek those things out. Words, phrases, full sentences: choose your own adventure. You might just uncover a newfound sense of momentum.
