Quotes About Motivation

In school, whenever I had to do something like memorize the periodic table, my father would say the key to doing boring tasks is to think about not so much what you're doing but the importance of why you're doing it. Though when I asked him if slavery wouldn't have been less psychologically damaging if they'd thought of it as "gardening," I got a vicious beating that would've made Kunta Kinte wince.

effort becomes enjoyable when it's seen as play, or as a game.

Blaise Pascal was even blunter: "All men seek happiness. This is without exception." And, to make clear how serious he is, he later adds: "This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.

This might seem perverse. How can good lead to evil? One thing to keep in mind here is that we are interested in beliefs and motivations, not what's good in some objective sense. So the idea isn't that evil is good; rather, it's that evil is done by those who think they are doing good.

In contrast to empathy, compassion does not mean sharing the suffering of the other: rather, it is characterized by feelings of warmth, concern and care for the other, as well as a strong motivation to improve the other's well-being. Compassion is feeling for and not feeling with the other

Flow is wonderful, then, but it's difficult to find—sandwiched between boredom and anxiety, hard to get started, hard to sustain.

Only 13 percent said they were engaged, 63 percent said that they were disengaged, and 24 percent saw themselves as actively disengaged. Put simply, many people think their jobs suck. There are all sorts of reasons why this is so. Many jobs have degrading conditions, perceived unfairness, and lack of autonomy.

ANOTHER MOTIVATION FOR activities such as mountain climbing is curiosity about one's own capacities.

wouldn't it be a positive experience for me if these things come to pass and a negative one if they don't? Well, yes: part of what it means to want something is that you are pleased when it happens. But this isn't an argument for hedonism, because it doesn't show that the pleasure is the goal itself, as opposed to a by-product.

In experimental work, people tend to contribute more to a charity when they expect to endure pain and suffering for that cause—the so-called martyrdom effect.

If you ask one group of people whether they will participate in a charity that involves a five-mile run (grueling) and a second group whether they will participate if the event involves a picnic (pleasant), the people in the first group are more likely to agree.

Choosing to experience pain to enhance subsequent pleasure is a powerful trick, but it only works some of the time.

Greater Effort Increases Perceived Value in an Invertebrate," Journal of Comparative Psychology

We will often choose to do something rather than nothing, even if the something is effortful and provides no tangible benefits. Effort itself can be a source of pleasure.

He who does not rouse himself when it is time to rise; who, though young and strong, is full of sloth; whose will and thoughts are weak; that lazy and idle man will never find the way to enlightenment.

it is an insulting delusion of many people who, like me, have cushy jobs in the public sector to imagine that workers in the private sector are driven by greed and fear. The evidence suggests that job satisfaction is actually considerably higher in the private sector; for example, people are far less likely to use illness as a reason for not going to work.

The future's better than the past. Or what's the point?

Be thankful his majesty is your protection, his glory is your motivation, his grace is your help, and his wisdom is your direction. He is infinitely smarter than you and me in our most brilliant moments

I fight with you because I have a heart problem. Rather than my heart being ruled by God and motivated by God's honor, my heart is ruled by my wants, my needs, and my feelings.

It is so difficult for us to remember and be motivated by what is truly important. It is so tempting to be committed to our little kingdoms that the transcendent kingdom of God is of little functional influence.

Prayer is, in itself, a recognition that something exists in the world that is greater and more glorious than you. Prayer is meant to remind you that your little world, filled with your little plans, is not ultimate. Prayer teaches you that there is a greater glory than any glory that you could ever want for yourself. Prayer is meant to help you remember that the deepest, most important motivation for every person who has ever taken a breath is the awe of God.

A joyful life of grace toward others grows best in the soil of gratitude. When I really reflect on who I am, when I take time to consider the grace that I couldn't have earned, achieved, or deserved but which has been lavished on me, and when I remember that that grace came at the cost of the life of another, then I am joyfully motivated to give that grace to others.

Be honest. What kind of success are you hooking your heart to and how is it shaping the decisions you make and the actions you take?

la gracia del evangelio no busca cambiar los aspectos religiosos de nuestras vidas; más bien busca cambiar todas las cosas que nos definen y nos motivan