CEUs can be found at ALLCEUs.com/Motivation-CEU
hey there everybody and welcome back to this video on seven ways to increase your motivation
i'm your host dr donnelly snipes
motivation is the desire to do something and dopamine is your motivation chemical so you gotta
have dopamine that in adequate levels in order to be motivated but you also just have to have a
desire a cognitive desire to do something and with everything that's going on and all the
things that we're bombarded with lately it's hard to get motivated because a lot of times
we already feel exhausted we already feel drained we already feel overwhelmed so it's hard to see
where we want to go and it's hard to get the energy
which you get from dopamine by the way it's hard to get the energy to get up off the couch to do it
so how can you increase your motivation make a list of all the ways that doing the behavior will
improve your physical health your comfort and sleep your mood your attitude and outlook and
your relationships now not everything is going to increase or improve all of these things but
even simple things for example mopping the floors for me i'm a big person with floors
mopping the floors well when i have the dust up off the floor and all the cat dander and
everything i actually do sleep better because my allergies aren't as aggravated so that's good
my mood is better because i get really grumpy when i see cat fur balls everywhere
my attitude and outlook well if i'm not sitting on the couch noticing all this junk on the floor
that needs to be mopped and i can think then i can think about what else i could do with my
energy instead of thinking about oh i gotta get up and mop i don't want to but i got to
and relationships well i tend to be in a much better mood around the house when it's not a
mess when the floor is at least swiffered if not mopped and the flat surfaces are all
cleaned off so it does improve my relationships it reduces a lot of friction and tension if
the floor is mopped if the floor is swiffered now it doesn't mean that i expect other people
to do it necessarily i can do it because i know it'll make me feel a lot better if i
don't come home to dust bunnies so something as simple as swiffering or mopping the floor
can actually improve a lot of areas of your life it can reduce your anxiety improve your energy
improve your outlook so make a list of all the ways that doing the behavior will improve those
things for you that can help you increase your motivation it's like okay you know i can see a
reason to do this and then identify all of the drawbacks to doing the behavior and address them
i know that seems counterintuitive but the drawbacks are going to be gnawing at the back of
your head the drawbacks to mopping the floor are you know it takes energy i'm going to get sweaty
and i've got to lug the mop buck mop bucket around and i'd really rather be watching television
let's just call it what it is okay those are the drawbacks how can i address them well i can have
the television on while i'm mopping that's one thing so i'm still getting it i can use one of
the mops that has the little portable um sprayer on it so i don't have to lug a mop bucket around
that's number two and you know i don't have to do it at 50 million miles an hour so i don't
necessarily have to get sweaty so identifying the drawbacks and eliminating them can also
help with your motivation i could also say to myself well the sooner i get this done
the sooner i can sit on the sofa and watch whatever tv show program that i want to watch
other ways to increase your motivation break large tasks into small chunks instead of thinking i've
got to clean the whole house or i've got to write this whole report or study 14 chapters for this
exam break them into small tasks things that you can do ideally 30 minutes or less you know
if a pizza can arrive in 30 minutes or less what can you do while you're waiting for that pizza
so break the large tasks into smaller chunks and then you can just whittle away at it do 15. this
was something i learned when i was in graduate school sometimes you might dread doing something
but if you get up and you actually start doing it it's the inertia of that keeps you from getting
started that's worse than actually doing it most of the time once you start doing it it's like okay
this isn't so bad so you do it for 15 minutes if after 15 minutes you're still miserable then stop
most of the time you're going to find that that 15 minutes came and went and you didn't even notice
it combine unpleasant tasks with pleasant ones take a friend when you go to the gym or watch your
favorite program while you're on the elliptical at the gym if you don't like um house cleaning
put on your favorite music and you know dance like a crazy person while you're while you're
cleaning whatever it is that you're not wanting to do that you hate doing try to combine it with
something that you like when i do mundane tasks at the office a lot of times i'll get my my phone
out and i'll put on a show or a comedian that i like listening to so it makes it less onerous
make sure there are sufficient frequent rewards
we are by nature motivated by things that are rewarding when we get a reward our brain says
oh i like that and then it secretes dopamine and dopamine says let's do that again so it's
important to keep that dopamine up to keep that motivation up to keep the rewards coming now you
don't have to reward yourself every time you wash a cup but it's important to make sure that if you
start feeling like your motivation is waning that you make sure that there are sufficient rewards
telling me you're going to give me a quarter to clean the house that is not a sufficient reward
so what would be a sufficient reward for whatever task and how can you make that happen
and finally get a battle buddy for support and accountability this person doesn't necessarily
have to be with you to do it so for example if both of you are going to try to start
eating healthier or going to the gym well that's great but you hold each
other accountable you talk to each other each day and check in and go well how's it going
did you get this done and you offer each other words of encouragement
not only does that other person help help you hold yourself more accountable
but having that other person there provides social reinforcement for what you're doing
if the videos on this channel have been helpful helpful
for you please support us in our mission to make high quality
practical tools available to everybody you can donate at doc snipes dot com slash donate
join the channel at doc snipes dot com slash join or purchase a thanks on videos that you like
motivation is essential for everything from folding the laundry to changing a behavior
motivation is often reduced when something is difficult or unpleasant
these tips are based in basic principles of behavior modification
and can help you shore up your resolve for just about anything
other videos you might find interesting motivation doc snipes dot com slash motivation dash list
i've actually done a lot of videos on motivational enhancement and motivational interviewing
sometimes you're not motivated because you're depressed so doc snipes dot com slash depression
dash list takes you to a series of videos that i've done on identifying whether you're
depressed and things that you can do in order to start moving towards recovery if you're a
counselor there's a ceu course on motivational enhancement at all ceus.com motivation dash ceu