Where does motivation come from?

When you send a message up to the ethers, with the power of intention behind it, the answer will be delivered through lessons and experiences. With that intention, you embark on a path that will show you what you need to learn.

by Sandy Jones — 

I used to think motivation came from outside myself, and sometime it does. Certain types of motivation definitely do come from external sources. For example, parents are a source of motivation. They motivate their children to do well in school, to clean their rooms, to make good choices.

While parents are an important source of motivation, other people motivate and inspire us, too. Some lift us up through kind thoughts, words and actions — but others may motivate us through fear and intimidation. While certainly a negative-seeming kind of motivation, fear can motivate us to exit a situation that does not serve us and to move quickly if we need to.

You could also say that sex, drugs, and rock ’n roll are motivators. They take us out of the space we are in, to another space. These certainly are not always healthy motivators, but they are forms of external motivation.

However, there are many other sources for motivation. For example, motivational institutions present seminars to fill you with power, enthusiasm and visions of infinite possibility. For some people, these motivational companies provide just the push we need to move forward. Many of us have attended a variety of these courses and have felt puffed up with hope and possibility when we left.

But for me, something has always been missing from these external sources of motivation. As a seeker of motivation from a very early age, I looked for it in all the wrong places. I looked for motivation outside myself. Perhaps I did not understand what I was looking for. Maybe I was born missing a piece of my puzzle. But every time I looked for this magical motivation, I initially felt it — but then, like a tire with a slow leak, over time I felt let down. I felt small again. Like an addict, I needed another motivational fix.

Recently, while pondering this, it occurred to me that the motivation I was seeking outside myself was only skin deep. And with this thought, it also occurred to me that if I wanted deeper motivation, I would have to find a way to create it myself. Without realizing it, I was being motivated to discover where true motivation comes from. How perfect is that?

When you send a message up to the ethers, with the power of intention behind it, the answer will be delivered through lessons and experiences. With that intention, you embark on a path that will show you what you need to learn.

Believe me, my path was no star-studded, magical, spiritual experience, although I have had fleeting moments like that. My path took me into the deepest and darkest places of myself to learn what I needed to learn and experience so I could fully receive the message intended for me.

After lifting and releasing layer after layer of stories and old beliefs, I discovered that motivation comes through the soul. It was there all along. We are all born with it. Sometimes we simply need to remember it is there.

Each of us has a deep source of motivation that is available anyplace and anytime. If you think you have lost yours, look again. You may be surprised to discover it is right where it’s always been. Seek and you shall find. Ask and you shall receive.

Imagine what your life might look and feel like when you ask your soul the question, “Where does motivation come from?”

Sandy Jones worked as a designer, teacher, software specialist and entrepreneur in the tech industry for the past 25 years. She has created Soul Motivations, a ministry devoted to helping people remember. soulmotivations@cox.net or 480-491-2464.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 24, Number 4, August/September 2005.